JUSTICE: Heroes United
by MegaSam777
Summary: It's all led to this. In the epic finale to the first DARK KNIGHT series arc, Batman and Superman join a group of powerful beings, all with their own intentions and opinions, to stop an evil that threatens the existence of modern civilization. All alone in their own hearts, these heroes will have to come together in a battle for the future that will change the DC universe forever.
1. INTRO

*Welcome, readers! You are now reading the epic finale of the first DARK KNIGHT story arc: ORIGINS. Now, we come to the beginning of the most famous team of all time besides the Avengers and the X-Men. Here is the full roster for the cast of JUSTICE...

-Superman (Clark Kent)-

-Batman (Bruce Wayne)-

-Wonder Woman (Princess Diana of Themyscira)-

-The Flash (Barry Allen)-

-Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)-

-Aquaman (Arthur Curry)-

-The Question (Vic Sage)-

-Alfred Pennyworth-

The main villain is a relatively unknown one as he is very odd and obscure. His name is Key and he was originally introduced in 1951's All Stars Comics #57. After a short role as the villain, he was reinvented a few years later in the Justice League comic book. I won't give you a biography but essentially, Key is an extremely smart man who uses 10 superhuman senses to commit crimes that humans can't begin to unravel. His brain is basically a computer and he had a key-shaped gun that could unlock any door and get into any computer network. Obviously, that's a bit too cheesy so I won't be using that version. Consider my version of Key a reimagining of the character. And if (and I highly doubt this) you are a big fan of Key, I'm sorry if he's changed too much but my version fits for this universe.

Key isn't the only bad guy the Justice League fight as he has drones to do his bidding. They are the Amazo robots that are featured pretty frequently in the comics. They have the ability to absorb the abilities of superhumans and use them for their own use. Mostly in male form and really big and tall, the Amazos prove a threat to any superhero they encounter. I don't want to reveal anymore about the plot but if you've liked the series so far... I'm 99.9% sure you will enjoy this as well.

This story will be arriving on the 25th of November, 2014. DARK KNIGHT: FROZEN ENIGMAS will be finished and just around the first of the new year 2015, I'll have started the fourth DARK KNIGHT adventure. Stay tuned, everyone!

Thanks!

-MS777


	2. Washington Is Down

"Washington is down, sir! We need to evacuate right now!" Secret Service agent, Victor Sage told President James Hockner who sat in his chair with a bloody cut running across his left cheek.

The President's chair had a leg broken off, wood splinters across the burned carpet and a large piece of metal from a destroyed military jet was stuck in the desk, hot as the engine itself. The left section of the roof of the Oval Office had been torn off by a U.S. helicopter after a few drones had taken it over. The flames were spread across the wall and it was smeared with black. On the floor lay the First Lady, James' wife. Her head had a giant, bloody hole in it and James tried to stand up, only falling back over as he realized a large metal shard had become lodged in his left thigh, blood slowly seeping out. He was in a quiet form of shock, only hearing a slight buzz in his ear and seeing everything fly by with grey, hazy vision. He watched as the Secret Service agent secured the scene, checking the sides of the room before running up to the desk and seeing that Hockner was injured. The President kept his sadness inside, only a small tear slipping out the corner of his eye as he stared at his wife's corpse. A loud explosion shook old law books and photo albums from their shelves and those fallen had caught fire, making the whole carpet turn into an inferno.

"I did what I could. But I couldn't reach her in time." Hockner said solemnly.

His fists were clenched and he glanced around the room, seeing two Secret Service guards dead with various wounds and their blood soaking into the floor. Their government-issued weapons were melted to their hands and the singed flesh had steam flowing upward. He picked up an abandoned pistol by his feet and handed it to Sage. The agent gave him a nod and stuck it in his right suit pocket. He grabbed Hockner's forearm and lifted him up from the broken chair quickly as another explosion rattled what remained of the windows.

"I'm sorry. She's dead, sir. We need to move you to the bunker. The Amazo drones have taken out Washington!" Sage said, holding the president's right arm and jumping out of the office just as a large missile from an Air Force fighter jet careened into it, shrapnel and wood flying everywhere.

Sage's flak vest protected him from the blast but pain still shot into his back. The entire back portion of his black suit was torn off and only the flak vest remained. He watched as two SS agents were shot in the legs by three merc soldiers and he slammed the president behind a fallen bookcase. He aimed his pistol up and dodged gunfire from their advanced assault rifles. A giant hole in the ceiling of the hallway allowed the disturbing sounds of war to attack his morale as he heard innocents screaming, gunfire, and pure death. His heart skipped as he saw the brief image of Superman flying across the sky in the distance, screaming as he fought off two of the giant Amazo drones.

The mercenaries wore gas or crude death masks to go along with the terroristic form of war. They were decked out in full body armor and weaponry. These men had no love for any country. This wasn't even about the money for them. It was something else. Something more twisted than a simple answer.

"Sam! Get over here!" Sage yelled to another agent who had been shot twice and was blindly firing rounds behind a broken down door.

Sam noticed him and fired the rest of his clip before running as fast as he could, Sage covering for him as the mercs got closer. He jumped at the last minute, wood splinters flying as the mercenaries' rounds hit the bookcase. Sam grunted as he crawled over to him and gave a status report.

"Ugh. Aquaman's gone and the Amazonian is dead." he said as gunfire erupted closer.

"What?" Sage asked in disbelief, flinching as a nearby car explosion rocked the hallway.

"Yeah. I saw her get slaughtered by the Amazos. I'm pretty sure Batman got flattened by a tank. We lost, Vic! It's over." Sam said, bowing his head in loss of hope.

_No. It's them, though. The ones who were supposed to save us. How can they lose? How can they lose?_

* * *

><p>Superman screamed with all his might as he used his heat vision to melt through an Amazo drone's head. The one behind him used his super-strength to launch the Man of Steel across the Mall Lake, water rushing out at high speeds as Superman tumbled into the park beside the lake. He looked up and saw four more Amazos heading for him. He lifted up a tree and tossed it through the air, various small roots and dirt clumps soaring across the Mall as the tree collided with two of them. Superman burst into the air and ripped off an arm, using the heavy metal to knock off another's head while surveying the battle zone that had become Washington D.C.<p>

He watched in exhaustion as military convoys fired with heavy artillery at the Amazos who darted across the sky and destroyed everything they came in contact with. Helicopters and jets flew across the smoky sky and fired onto the streets. Civilians left in the city ran around in fear and were either killed by friendly fire or the mercenaries who fired live rockets into the streets. A fighter jet's wing flew off and Superman saw that it was heading for the Lincoln Monument. He flew high in the air and watched the body of the jet collide into the harbor beside a scorched bridge.

He created a sonic boom as he flew as fast as possible and grabbed the wing, hovering 180 degrees and facing two Amazos who flew around him. Superman growled in anger and knocked one across its chest, the mech tech inside shredded as the two ripped sections fell to the bridge below. The second Amazo punched him in the jaw, slightly denting the drone's fist as it attempted another swing. Superman grabbed it by its throat and completely crushed it. The Amazos fired laser beams directly into Superman's eyes and he fell to the bridge one hundred feet below.

He collided with a car and totaled the roof as he lay inside in pain. The Amazo's head hung by a few wires and a damaged metal spine, giving a monotone stare as it repeatedly punched Superman in his weak spots; his sides, throat, ear canals, and the solar plexus of his chest. Superman coughed loudly and shook bits of metal from his hair as the Amazo picked him up by his head and the two flew into the air. As Superman watched a convoy truck full of soldiers blow up on L Street, he breathed heavily, feeling no strength inside him as the Amazo flew to three hundred feet. Superman looked around in despair as America's most important city burned to the ground. He could see the brief green glow of Green Lantern's power, a few drones flying into the air like ragdolls as an energy blast shook the city in the east side. He turned to his right and saw the electric blasts left by the Flash appear suddenly as the Scarlet Speedster engaged in a chase with a speed-enhanced drone.

* * *

><p>Flash ran with all his might, running up the side of a flower shop on C Street and doing a back flip and using the Speed Force to slow down time, the pursing Amazo drone flying straight inside the shop, nearly blowing itself apart as it hit a concrete wall in front of him.<p>

Flash landed on his feet, quickly standing up and watching it turn its nearly-detached head, the small threads of electric wiring creaking as its pure red eyes zeroed in at the Flash. At that moment, he remembered what Batman had said:

_Key has set up these drones in an interesting way. Unique but they're extremely vulnerable. They are 'one', in a sense. They have a central hive mind in the cortex. These things will always know where we are since they all see as one, yet also as an individual. _

"Shit!" Flash yelled, quickly speeding away as three more drones flew from the sky and raced after him.

He jumped over burnt cars and toppled over buildings, jumping over fifteen feet in the air and using the energy inside him to fire an electric blast with help from the conductor gauntlets in his forearms. The yellow energy traveled through his suit and shot out as a yellow stream that hit the Amazos and fried the singularity cortex as Batman had called it. The Amazos seized up for a moment and fell, one of the drones colliding with a destroyed truck while the rest pressed on, firing their propulsion systems up again.

He groaned in annoyance and saw a military convoy up ahead with three surviving National Guard soldiers firing at the mercenaries who kept firing their sonic rifles which shot a potentially lethal blast of sound energy which could cause eardrums to bleed and brain hemorrhaging to occur. He jumped well ahead of the barricade and was able to get the young soldiers' attention.

"Listen. Deal with these guys. Fire for their weapons. Right in the middle. It's wearing the sound generator is loca-!" Flash began before an Amazo drone flew at him and launched him into the DC Metro Police building.

He flew straight through the second story window and collided into a metal desk. He shook his head in dazed confusion and saw the drone brush off dust and drywall. Flash grit his teeth and planned to attack. The Amazos were eight feet tall and looked humanoid with two arms and two legs. Their faces were all the same, a blank, monotone, male face that was molded to look like a clean-cut American poster-boy for the military. The organic skin flaps were in all denominations, white, black, Chinese, Latino, all with slight facial differences to fit their skin tones. They were broad-shouldered and capable of extreme feats with their advanced technology. In addition to their advanced technology, Batman and Aquaman had realized that the Amazos organic material was capable of temporarily absorbing any metahuman's powers through direct contact. Flash didn't completely understand the process but it had to do with oils and bodily fluids excreted only by the metahumans.

"C'mon! You want me?" Flash said, feeling anger like never before and delivering a punch to the face at 300 MPH.

Flash's heart skipped a beat as he watched the Amazo drone catch it and toss him backwards, flying into the wall and breaking a portrait of an old police captain. Flash groaned as the drone ran at him faster than he could process, the punch knocking off his cowl helmet and making him fly through the wall. Barry blew drywall dust from his face and exchanged blows with the drone, deflecting his punches and kicks with expert precision. Small sonic booms were heard as the metal from both Barry's gauntlets and the Amazo's forearms collided.

He head butted the drone and immediately regretted it, losing his footing and soaring through the air as the drone tossed him outside. He hit the side of a damaged building and grabbed onto a streetlight, nearly slipping off as he regained his full vision. He looked as the drone grabbed an officer's desk and tossed it outside the window, Barry dropping to the street and quickly running up to the drone as the desk flipped around erratically on the fiery street.

He delivered an uppercut with all his strength and watched as the Amazo's head flew off and its heavy body fell in a heavy thud to the ground. Barry found his helmet and stuck it on, taking a breath before seeing a new wave of the Amazos flying in from the south along with two black helicopters full of Key's mercenaries. He narrowed his eyes and prepared to fight, feeling at a loss as he saw Superman fly into the Washington Monument, the patriotic ivory structure falling almost at the base with a loud crash. He ran after his new friend but was suddenly stopped as he saw Green Lantern, his best friend in the world, about to get blasted by a missile strike four blocks away. He screamed his name and began to ran. He watched as the missile hit the green hero's projected shield, breaking it apart and making him fly into the sports car behind him. He fell to his knees as hundreds of enemies approached… and Washington D.C. fell.


	3. Melt With You

**sixteen hours earlier . . .**

Barry Allen hated cars. Cars were gigantic moving pieces of glass, metal, and rubber put together. They had an engine that made them move but despite their V6 engines, even with the best tires that operate on the road... couldn't even come close to the rush and adrenaline of the Speed Force. When you could run at speeds up to 600 MPH, there was absolutely no need for a vehicle. He sat in Central City traffic; the only audible noises were the beeping of horns and the vigorous tapping of his fingers against the wheel. He took short breaths that ached with boredom and sheer agony. In the year Barry had gained the ability of super speed, he found common everyday life unbearable. It was as if his eyes had been opened to the mundane and painful sameness that the world seemed to revolve around. When he was the Flash, Central City's own guardian, he felt freedom and liberation like no other human being. When you could fly across the skies after jumping off a skyscraper, a car was nothing more than a ton of moving metal that was as a turtle.

"Can we move, please?" Barry yelled outside his window as the traffic remained stationary as it had for three minutes now.

_If this wasn't my car, I swear to God I'd jump out and go for a run. My legs are aching and I'm starving_

He banged his head against the headrest and let out a very obnoxious raspberry that caught the attention of the driving beside him. He looked up and gave a quick smile before rolling up his window and deciding to turn on the radio. As he turned through the stations, he began to wonder if one could actually die of boredom.

"Presidential candidate Lex Luthor had proclaimed that he will fix various budget problems in Metropolis involving steel factory workers while he also plans to- here we are on KGH 93.1, bringing you the freshest hits from the top 50- melt with you... I'll stop the world. You've seen the difference and it's getting better . . . all the time."

Barry stopped searching through the stations and gave a little smile at the relaxing song that reminded him of simpler days. Which was ironic considering that 'I Melt With You' was actually a song about nuclear holocaust. He hummed along with the song for a moment and tapped his steering wheel with the beat until his phone vibrated in his pocket.

"Hello?" he answered with an upbeat tone when he saw that the love of his life was calling.

"Did you pack your dinner, babe? I hate that you're working late but I don't want you spending ten bucks on that unhealthy stuff."

"Yes. Yes, I did. I have three ham and cheese sandwiches, two bags of chips, a can of tuna salad, one chicken breast, a protein shake, bottle of water, and yogurt for dessert. All part of a nutritious dinner. Thank you for doing this... every single day for me. I couldn't ask for a better girl, Iris." Barry said, sitting down his heavy plastic bag full of food and staring at the traffic while the pop 80's song continued to play.

"You're welcome. And that's _wife _now, Mr. Allen." she said before sending an audible kiss over the phone.

_I made a pilgrimage to save this human's race . . . Never comprehending a race that's long gone by . . ._

"I love you, babe. Have a good night." Barry said, staring at his shined silver ring on his finger.

"I will. And you have a safe night..." she said, pausing for a moment.

"Try not to dodge too many bullets, Flash."

Barry hung up with a smile on his face and looked around at the traffic on the highway. He was sitting relatively calm before he heard a strange sound that wasn't familiar to the usual ambience of Central City. Through the smoggy evening air, Barry could see the faint image of three helicopters flying overhead, followed by two fighter jets. They flew over the setting sun and zoomed over the highway at a low altitude, no more than three hundred feet. Barry was puzzled and looked around, seeing more helicopters circling the area and before he could say anything, the Central City police force came from the side lanes of the highway and Barry rolled down his window again. He saw that the helicopters were that of the American Military and had armed soldiers inside them. They were in a hurry.

_The future's open wide . . . I'll stop the world and melt with you._

Another small convoy of large helicopters flew overhead and disrupted the 80's song. Barry looked out of his window and continued to see more men with guns, looking at the elevated interstate below. Barry got out a pair of simple binoculars from his console and focused on the camo helicopters. He saw a familiar name stamped across the side:

**PROPERTY OF FERRIS AIR BASE located in COAST CITY, CA**

Barry put down his binoculars. Coast City was well over 1 thousand miles away. What was a fleet of military crew and vehicles doing in the Midwest? After another jet zoomed overhead, Barry reached for his phone again and dialed his best friend's number, Hal Jordan.

Based on what was happening, it seemed like the song was prophetic. What was about to happen?

_The future's open wide . . ._

* * *

><p>"Hello?" Hal Jordan said after wiping the engine on his Boeing F-22 Raptor jet with a stained towel.<p>

"Is there an operation or exercise going on in Central City? Because I've just seen six fighter jets fly basically right above my head and helicopters are landing on the highest buildings. I'm getting kind of worried." Barry asked.

"I have no clue, man. There's been a few jets leaving the hangar. I was wondering. I've seen them loading up thermite missiles and high-powered artillery. I was just about to ask my commander. How many total do you think?" Hal asked, stopping his cleaning and leaning against his Raptor.

"Um... probably fifteen military vehicles in all. Lots of G.I. Joes in each too. What are they doing a thousand miles from home? Is no one else available?"

"I don't know what's going on but I can try and find out... stay on the line, Bare." Hal said, putting the phone by his side and racing though Ferris Air Base in Coast City as he headed for the main office where his commanding officer should be stationed.

Hal quickly ran across the main hallway, stopping to salute captains and majors out of respect and briefly flirting with a young cadet before reaching his general's office. He looked inside the rectangular window and saw him inside. He knocked on the door twice lightly and heard the man clear his throat. Hal opened the door and saluted him before he offered Hal a seat.

"Hello, sir. I had a question about the recent deployment of dozens of our fighters. If you don't mind me asking… what's going on? I've heard some are as far as Central City. Are we low on units?"

"I don't think you're cleared for that kind of information, Colonel." General Ferris responded.

"I know that, sir. But eventually… and by the vastness of this operation… it seems like I'll soon be involved. So please, can you tell me what's going on? You know me… I'm tightlipped, General." Hal responded, holding his phone up so Barry could hear.

"Colonel… you'd best tread lightly, alright. You're not going to push me in my office. Are we clear?" General Ferris said.

"Carl… let's not play the rank game here… you're my..." Hal said, pausing as he looked around briefly.

"You're my future father-in-law, dammit. You can tell me these things. This is something serious. I can tell. I've been in wars, General." Hal said quietly but with eagerness.

"Hal… I can't. The only reason I've been alerted is because we are the second biggest aircraft hangar in the whole country. I can tell you that we are on the brink of war. We need everything available. There are things about to come to light that will change this world. I know how corny that sounds but when this news breaks... it will change everything. That's all I can diverge at the moment, son. No more. You'll find out soon enough." General Ferris replied, gripping the sides of his desk as Hal leaned in.

Hal sat back and gulped loudly while giving a quiet sigh. He held his chin up and got up to leave, secretly slipping the phone into his pocket. He heard General Ferris sit up in his chair and he turned around, seeing him fold his arms.

"When it all comes down… I'm going to need you to take Carol and get the hell out of here. Do you understand?" he asked, his voice full of pleadful fear.

"Yes, sir. Goodbye." Hal replied, leaving the office with a bad feeling in his stomach and his knees feeling weak.

As he walked back to his quarters, he picked his phone up and talked to Barry after passing through a busy hallway.

"Did you hear all that?" Hal said quickly.

"Yes… even though I wish I hadn't. Hal… what are we about to face?"


	4. High Council

**ATLANTIS, beneath the Bermuda Triangle . . .**

"Orin… son of Atlanna. You are hereby sentence to ten years in the courts of Atlantis' most high orders for the crimes of dolphin theft and bodily harm, unlawful possession of Atlantean armor and the trident of Poseidon, and escaping prison with three officers in critical condition. Not mentioning the previous offense of aiding a fugitive and terrorist. How do you plead?" the elderly female judge said as she sat on her throne in the Court of Atlantis.

"First, your Honor… I must say… that dolphin was taken care of and was harmed after an Antarctic animal abuser hit him with a long-ranged spear. And the trident and armor is rightfully mine! And please… those three officers are fine now! That was over four months ago! Their wounds have healed in the warm springs of rejuvenation, I'm sure." Orin of Atlanna replied with anger, known by most as Arthur Curry on the surface world.

He was bound by a pair of metal cuffs and wore the undergarment of his Atlantean family armor. The undergarment was in fact the prison uniform he hadn't removed since his escape. It was mostly orange on the torso and chest with dark green fabric layered on top across his elbow to wrist. Even though he was of Atlantean origin, he looked different. Most of the Atlanteans were completely pale and slim, mostly due to the lack of sunlight and their high endurance and metabolism. He was an outsider. There was no other way to put it.

"That may be true, Orin… but the fact of the matter is… you broke out of Atlantean prison, stole ancient armor and weaponry, and went on a rampage of destruction throughout the human world. You damaged surface-dwellers' equipment and cost their lives. It is not your place to protect those you deem worthy." Judge Serin said, looking over the reports of organic waterproof parchment.

The courthouse itself and almost every living establishment in Atlantis was not underwater as its conditions were uncomfortable even to its inhabitants. The Atlanteans were humans, just having adapted to its environment after 10,000 years of living in the oceans. Orin or Arthur as he preferred to be called, was only half-Atlantean, having a human father and a deceased Atlantean mother. She was the queen of Atlantis before succumbing to an illness related to her having a child with Arthur's father.

"I am human, Judge Serin! I cannot help it and they are my people… as are the citizens of Atlantis! Atlanna made me their protector. This is my destiny, your honor." Arthur said loudly, anger brewing inside him as the jury and witnesses stirred in their marble pews.

"Well, those dreams of destiny died with your mother, Orin. While she was the queen and you are of blood, you will never be king. You defied our laws and defected to the surface dwellers. You are a traitor, a murderer, and a liar." Judge Serin replied, her tone making the audience of people recall the recent crime that rocked Atlantis.

"I have told all of you countless times… my brother Orm was framed for the murders of High Council. He would never have killed innocents and especially not children. You know who the _real_ murderer is, Serin. But we all know why you will not bring him to justice. And you dare call me a criminal!" Arthur yelled.

"The lost one was not involved in their deaths! How dare you use a challenged person against your case!" Serin said.

"Hm. Does the witnesses and jury of the court know of his family? His true origin? May I inform them, your Honor?"

"Quiet, son of Atlanna. Or face death!" Serin said, using her water powers to wrap a liquid line across Arthur's mouth.

Arthur became filled with rage and saw the regret and fear in Judge Serin's eyes. He gave a smile as the crowd gasped and looked at the gagged Atlantean. He turned around in his podium and looked at the crowd. He turned back around and reached at his face with his restrained hands and ripped the gag from his mouth, letting it splash against the 1,000-year tile floor.

"The lost one is the son of Judge Serin! He's a Halfling like me! She's a hypocrite and did you know she _may_ be on her way to becoming Leader of the High Council? Hm?" Arthur yelled so everyone could hear.

"Guards! His sentence is final! _Twenty_ years! Take him away and out of my sight!" Judge Serin boomed, pointing at him with a bony finger as two guards covered in Atlantean armor and facemasks carried Arthur away.

"Isn't it a bit _odd_ that she is the surviving member of the High Council and just happens to be approving a new team of Atlantean mercenaries to commit worse crimes than anything I have or ever-!" Arthur yelled before a guard smacked him with a shock wand and silenced him.

Arthur watched as he was dragged from the court place and Judge Serin calmed down while the witnesses left questions on their mind. As the giant court doors opened before him and the chamber where all water was drained had finished its purpose, Arthur saw the most beautiful surface dweller he had seen in a long time. From her tiara that shone a bright silver and her attractively strong stature, Arthur knew who and what she was. An Amazonian princess from Themyscira, the land shrouded with fog and protected from the outside world. She was lead by two Atlantean guards and had another Amazon beside her, a redheaded woman with an archery sleeve and a thick brown bow on her back.

The main Amazon wore her raven hair a little below her shoulders, bare arms with matching bracelets, a blue leather undergarment that was covered by red armor on her chest and her boots, and a matching set of a three foot sword and a large shield strapped to her back. She had the ideal female curves and armor perfectly glided over her upper feminine area. It formed into an eagle like symbol, almost like two letter "W's" on top of one another. She spotted him looking at her breasts and she stopped, pointing out her arm, signaling for the guards to stop moving. They stopped in their tracks and the left guard sighed.

"What is it, Amazon?" he asked.

"What are you observing, prisoner?" she asked in a commanding yet soothing voice.

"Just your armor. That's all. Why are… why are you here?" Arthur answered, staring at her eyes that were strangely almost purple in color.

"I am the Themyscirian ambassador here to discuss a possible peace treaty for the Atlanteans, Man's World, and ourselves." the woman said without shame or second thought.

"Diana! Do not discuss these matters with a common criminal!" the second Amazonian said, jerking her back and giving a cold stare at Arthur as the two guards dragged him away.

Arthur stared at her and was puzzled at her appearance in Atlantis. He knew what Man's World was. The real world. A possible peace? What was going on? It was obviously a big deal because it involved an ambassador coming to speak about a peace agreement and the surviving members of the High Council. It appeared Man's World was aware of the existence of other races such as the Amazons. He had heard rumors of their interactions on cruise ships and a few beach sightings but beyond that, these "Wonder Women" were mostly legends and unconfirmed events. As he was pushed into the prisoner carriage placed inside the draining chamber, he watched as Diana gave him another look and gave him a brief smile as the grumpy guard slammed the metal door shut.

_Damn, _he thought to himself; the carriage rocking about as the chamber filled with blue-green seawater.

_An Amazon princess flirted with me…_

* * *

><p>"Princess Diana, I understand you are here from Themyscira to discuss a treaty. You have come to us first. Why?" Judge Serin said, replacing her judicial red crown for a transparent and diamond-encrusted High Council crown.<p>

"While Man's World is closer in distance, you and the people of Atlantis are closer both by heritage and way of life. We are all warriors, spread across the face of Earth, and we believe it is time for our nations to come together. Wars between our species are futile and ultimately bring nothing. I am sure you have heard about the Superman in America and his supposed "humanitarian" efforts. He is an alien and while he _appears_ to be good-natured, what would happen if he turned against us? All three of our people would fight against him and against each other. We have become nothing… but a threat to ourselves. And we believe it should be over." Princess Diana said, standing at the podium and speaking directly to Serin.

"Hm. How true, Princess. I must say… while I condone your bravery and intelligence for being in Atlantis today… I was expecting your mother. She has been the Themyscirian ambassador for seven decades if I'm correct." Serin replied.

"Queen Hippolyta has other matters to attend to and I volunteered after proving my worth, your Highness." Diana said.

"You are aware that if we sign your treaty that you will have to go to America's government and present this to them, aren't you?" Serin told Diana with a snobby tone.

"Yes, Highness, I am. Believe me, I am familiar with the country and its people. Just a month before, me and three noble warriors faced a masked man in the Amazon rainforests of South America. I have been taught in both the arts of war and elegance. The American people will be grateful of this treaty. Now, all we need is your revisions. What are your requirements?" Diana asked.

"The surface dwellers are very rude and primitive in their military values and strategies. We have researched the Americans for over a century and have seen what their pattern is. They always create a base or safe haven inside the country they cooperate with and we could absolutely never have an American headquarters in Atlantis. Too many problems. You must warn them of that restriction and this one as well." Serin said, pulling a scroll of parchment from a worn satchel and unrolling it on her elevated table.

Diana sighed in boredom and waited without emotion as the High Council member cleared her throat loudly and began reading from the parchment.

"With the United States Naval Military and surrounding allies, we cannot have patrolling ships and submarines above the city of Atlantis as they interfere with the natural order and balance of the Atlantic Ocean. We also cannot be in possession of any American nuclear missiles or secret weapons of the same type as we wish to remain neutral unless otherwise threatened." Serin said without stopping.

"The High Council of Atlantis must also be aware of any threat made against the United States so we can prepare for our own threat which will surely follow. And also, at any time, we may do away with the peace treaty for any reason without any question. Any objection will be a declaration of war. Also, we, the people of Atlanti-."

"Excuse me, your Highness," Diana interrupted.

Serin widened her eyes and looked at the princess with an angry stare. She let loose of the scroll and looked at her while it rolled back up on its own. She folded her arms and waited for the Amazon to speak.

"I don't know how the people of the United States will respond if we bring your requirements to them without an ambassador or at least visual evidence. And also, don't you think these rules are a little too… harsh, your Highness? I don't think that they would respond well with an open threat of war just because they object to one rule. Frankly, it isn't fair and I don't think you will get a part of the treaty. You need someone to represent the city of Atlantis and not _just_ a piece of paper." Diana said, standing tall and proud.

She looked behind her and saw her friend and bodyguard, Artemis, give a nod to her with a smile. Diana returned with a brief smile and looked back at Serin, whose face was red and flustered. Diana gripped her podium and waited for the remaining High Council's answer.

"I suppose you're right, Princess Diana. Atlantis is _not_ well known and it would help if we had an ambassador who the American people could trust and listen to. Give me a few minutes to discuss and a final decision shall be made." Serin said.

_This is going to take awhile..._


	5. Throwing Cars And Stuff

"Gordon. James." Batman told Sally as he shot through the clouds and looked at the screen that was connected to the thermal scanner below the craft.

A few seconds passed and he heard the Captain of the Gotham City Police answer quickly.

"Gordon. Are you following up on this large man causing trouble?"

"I've heard three reports in the last couple of minutes. Are you going after him?" Gordon asked.

"Yes. I'm two miles from him. I can see him picking up a parked car as we speak. Tell your men to fall back."

"Why?"

"I don't want any casualties. I can handle him." Batman said, pulling the speed control back toward him.

"And what happens if you get yourself killed?" the captain asked.

"It won't happen." Batman said, hanging up and zooming toward the scene of destruction below him.

He switched to the engine's power to thruster 2 and the gravity shoved him back as the craft zoomed across the dark orange sky, the bat-like vehicle swarming and whirling quietly through the January air. He saw the man toss an expensive limo across a four-lane road, the black car spinning violently and scrapping the ground with sparks flying. It hit the sidewalk curb and flew into the air as glass and metal shards blasted the nearby civilians. The car's journey ended when it hit the brick wall of a ironically place car dealership. Batman aimed the Batwing downward and zoomed across the skyline of Gotham's main district. He was heading at the man at 100 MPH and quickly pulled up the thermal scanner over his eyes. He scanned the body and saw that the heat signature was well over that of a human's. This car-tosser was _more_ than human. A metahuman as Bruce had named them during his experiences with the tragic Doctor Fries who took the pun name Freeze.

"He'll break every bone... but he'll be stopped." Batman said, pushing the lever to the cockpit window and pulling back as he was six feet from the road.

He watched as the man kicked a car into the middle of the street after flattening a newspaper stand and zoomed at him while changing to thruster 1. He was ten feet from the man and the speedometer read 70 MPH. He narrowed his eyes through the thermal scanner headpiece and braced for impact. Two feet from the man, a loud whoosh of wind blew back the man's thick black hair and Batman's head swung to the right hard as something hit the craft from the side. He looked to the side and saw a sight that made him grit his teeth. A fluttering dark red cape rubbed against the window and he leaned over, seeing the Man of Steel carrying it onto the roof of the car dealership. He groaned in pain, shutting off the Batwing and preparing a large collapsible batarang. He hopped out from the craft and stood in front of Metropolis' guardian, Superman.

"I stopped you from killing someone just now." he said to Batman as he walked past him.

"He would've lived, Clark. The man can pick up a car."

"I wasn't talking about him. The Batplane would've been crushed and so would you." Superman replied.

"What? How do you know?" Batman asked, staring at Superman while running to the edge of the building.

"He's metal. Completely. He's made of some organic element. Almost like titanium but somehow stronger. He's a robot, Bruce." Superman said, jumping into the air and zooming toward the robot.

Superman flew down to the ground and attempted to swing a punch. Within a millisecond, the android leaped into the air, hydraulics heard working inside the flesh-like covering. He flew 20 feet into the air, grabbing a flagpole against the side of the car dealership and ripping it from the hooks. He landed on the ground again and Superman shot a beam of heat vision at its hand holding the flagpole. The android kept walking toward him and the flagpole melted into the hard metal that made up the android's skeleton. Superman rose an eyebrow and the android ran at him, smacking him across the torso and bending back the thick metal pole. Superman punched the man backward and he stumbled a few steps behind, its chest dented and the skin covering ripped. Superman was going to deliver another hit but the android caught it with its free hand. Superman tried to break the grasp and found it difficult, the android's arm vibrating fast and tightening its grip against his arm. He was thrown across the street and into the plate glass window and severely damaging a Lamborghini's right side on the main display case. He shook off the glass and debris bits as the android ran at him, using a forearm to collide with the sports car and sending the trapped Superman beyond the wall of the dealership and into an alley behind the store.

"What in the he..." Superman mumbled to himself as he wedged himself out of the Lamborghini-turned-restraint and prepared to strike again.

He watched as the android picked up an escaping car and slammed it back into the ground, breaking off the two rear tires and sending the driver door flying. He picked up the unrecognizable sports car and used it as a barricade, scraping it against the ground and striking the android with all his force. He stopped short of the opposite wall and tossed the Lamborghini shield to the left of him. He quickly pulled the dazed and bloody driver from the car and carried him a block away from the scene. He flew back to the scene of the fight and saw people running in fear.

"Everyone! Get to safety and as far away as you ca-!" he yelled to the Gothamites before being smacked with the fused hand/flagpole appendage.

The android looked at the people running away and began to start a jog that evolved into an aggressive sprint. It ran at the crowd and was about to strike before being hit by a large batarang that hit it in the right temple. The android's head spun around and scanned the area behind it for the thrower. It activated its internal thermal scanner and saw a muscular figure on the rooftops. It ignored the groaning Superman tens of feet away and jumped into the air and grabbing the edge of the building, crushing the cinderblocks and concrete on the side. It watched the figure pull something from its waist and click a button. One second later, the batarang exploded with a short beep and destroyed the android's vision on the right side of its face. It stumbled backward and off of the building.

Batman stepped out from the darkness and gave a brief sigh. He flew down to the street and saw the injured android trying to compose itself. He threw down three glue bombs and the strands of glue strapped across its chest and all across its arms. Its exposed head sparked and long wires rubbed against the road as Batman walked over to Superman and grabbed his forearm to lift him up.

"Why are you here?" Batman asked in his dark voice.

"I was coming to see how you were doing but then I heard the police reports of him. Throwing cars and stuff. Thought I could help and meet you. Could hear the Batplane from miles out." the Man of Steel replied.

"Batwing. How I was doing? I already have a psychiatrist, I don't need you."

"Really? We're gonna do this now, Bruce?"

"Why not?" Batman asked as they walked over to the android.

"Oh, I don't know... maybe it's because there is a freaking killer robot in Gotham." Superman said as they approached it.

"You punch with the force of 500 tons and get knocked out. I hit him with a glue bomb and he's down. What does that say?"

Superman sighed and looked at Batman, possibly seeing the smallest smirk ever expressed.

Superman wiped sweat off his forehead and looked at the android. Within an instant, the android's head whipped at them and ripped apart the hardened glue strands. Batman leaped back and drew his grapnel gun, firing the large hook into the robotic shoulder and launching him across the street, scraping his armored knee protection against the street. Superman threw a punch and was shocked as with the flagpole/hand appendage, the android slammed him into the ground while grabbing Batman's cable. Batman flew into the air and it threw Superman with him, the two men colliding and soaring through the air. Batman released his parachute-like cape and Superman hovered unsteadily beside him.

"What happened?" Batman asked.

"I don't know. I haven't felt strength like that since Zod."

Batman didn't waste a second, pulling out a smoke pellet and grabbing onto the slightly damaged lightpole with one hand. With a powerful toss, it exploded onto the ground near the android and spread across the expanse of the city block. The android looked around and swiped the smoke away after a sharp spark came from the side of its head. Batman lifted himself onto the lightpole and watched as Superman blew through it and punched the android hard in the chest, knocking it to the ground letting its feet grind apart against the asphalt. He didn't hesitate and approached the android as it tried to recuperate. He punched it twice in the head and resisted the pain as it headbutted him, the nose section of the face dented in completely. He looked into the android's eyes and saw that they were almost human, save for a blue center that pulsed with the inner workings of the android's functions. Superman struggled and ripped off its right arm, tossing it away and kicking the rest of the android away from the smoke cloud.

He ducked as it swung with the flagpole fused hand and bent the pole back and into its metal skull. He fought against it as it punched him in the sides multiple times, growing stronger each swing. He grabbed its head and watched as the android growled fiercely. It moved around and Superman placed his hands against the temples, crushing the metal and squeezing the 'brain' apart. Metal bits flew out as the two rose into the air, unknown fluids poured down Superman's hands, and it finally went limp in the air as the head became flat even with the thick flagpole in its head. Superman dropped the body and looked at Batman who was pulling out a small kit and a pair of tweezers. Superman saw him and zoomed to the ground, eyeing the destroyed android and seeing all of the damage it had caused.

"It's done for. Thanks for helping." Batman said, taking the tweezers and pulling out a group of green and yellow wires drenched in a dark liquid.

"_Helping_? Okay." Superman scoffed.

Batman didn't reply, using the tweezers and attached flashlight to peer inside the small cave of wires and advanced technology. He looked at the roof with intent and quickly motioned for Superman to pick up the body.

"What are we doing?" the Man of Steel asked.

"Bring that thing to the cave. You know the way." Batman said, loading up his grapnel gun and zooming to the Batwing.


	6. Total War

"We have made a decision." Judge Serin told Diana who had patiently waited for the Council member to make up her mind.

_Considering it's just her, I don't know who this 'we' is._ Diana thought to herself.

"And I _cannot_ sign this treaty, Princess." Serin said.

The courtroom went silent. Diana's bodyguard stirred in her seat and the rest of the Atlantean crowd were without words. The only sounds were those of the water bubbling and a blue whale crying in the distance. Diana breathed deeply and feared the worst in her head.

"Why, madam?" Diana asked, holding back her agitation.

"We cannot have an alliance with the people of America. Too many restrictions. For 8,000 years, our government has reigned and we have been fine until the nation of the United States was formed. They are savages. Every generation... thousands of lives lost in war. They battle amongst themselves and destroy Earth's resources until there is nothing left. They are too destructive of a society." Serin told the Amazon princess.

Diana sighed and looked deeply into the High Council's eyes. Serin was cold. No emotion involved. But she was oblivious to the real problems involved. Atlantis was going to become their enemy if they refused. The treaty wasn't an option. It was a necessity for survival of the Atlantean people because of their actions.

"Madam... we are going to have a problem with your response. This will cause the United States of America to label you as an enemy. A _threat_."

"And how are you aware of this?"

"Well... because I'm in contact with them. I have been in secret for months now. I've been working with one of their military members. And they have good reason to believe that your... submarine weapon could become a threat to them."

"The Orca is meant as a peace-keeping device, Princess. You need to tell your _friends_ that we ar-." Serin began, her voice getting deeper.

"That's not what they think, madam. And they said if you refused... action would be taken."

"Definition of action?" Serin said, her arms spread wide across her desk.

Diana gave her a sincere look and Serin said no more. Her chest rose far from her robe and she gave a small smile with her wrinkled face. Diana had seen a look like that before. It was the look a leopard gave before killing its prey.

* * *

><p>The carriage carrying Arthur was rocking against the water wakes that soared past them, higher-powered vehicles zooming by the prison transport. Three guards had their rifles ready and carefully watched Arthur as, for once, he sat in silence. He had lived in Atlantis for five years on-and-off. His mother, Queen Atlanna, had allowed him to spend half of his year on land and half in Atlantis. He was now 23 years old and on the surface, was considered nothing more than a moocher of his father and a bum. He hated his 'alter ego' as he called himself on land. The man on land, known as A.C., was an asshole. He lived off his parents, was known for causing trouble and had a dumb side to him. But he had to protect his family at all costs.<p>

The guards looked outside the windows, observing the various sea creatures that swam above them. A family of sea turtles blooped their way through the cold waters and were followed by hundreds of fish, all scattered across looking for food. Every now and then, the city of Atlantis became silent. A cruise ship or military submarine would zoom across, their sonar unable to detect the city due to their advanced scientific ways of manipulating the water around them. The city was set on three different levels of authority and rightful ownership. The _consectetur domum _was where the civilians lived and the police force guarded over. The _medius_ was the mother of Atlantis. The government officials and every law was written in this section of the city. It was carved into the rock of _consectetur domum _and the courthouse, capitol building, and law-making libraries ruled from the center. At the very bottom, in the ancient part of Atlantis was the _abyssos_, a land reserved for the great first leaders of the society. Only hundreds of people in Atlantis had been allowed access. There was legend of a great evil that hid for centuries and the elders had forbidden anyone to travel down.

The transport hit a rough spot as a large school of sharks swam by the crevice that lead to the main section of the _medius_. Arthur kept quiet as the guards looked out the windows and saw the lights to the entrance brighten up the whole carriage. The waves soared over the side of the transport and Arthur waited patiently, no longer fearing the prison of Atlantis after his first breakout. He had nothing to fear now but fear itself.

Out of all of Atlantis' 1.7 million people, only 1/12th of the population were kept behind bars. The _Atlantis Caveam _was a huge structure in the _medius_, created out of stone and metal that was extremely durable and made to stand the test of time. The _Caveam_ was built outstretched from the _medius_ on a large tower of rock and was made to isolate the criminals from the city of Atlantis. The prison was older than most of the city and contained prisoners still inside from the Great Crisis, a horrible war that killed over 20,000 Atlanteans and destroyed their resource center 80 years before. A rebellion broke out and the leader had killed five members of the Atlantean board. Riots broke out, pollution hit a new high, lives were lost, and a new government rose from the ashes.

"We're here. But you probably already knew that." one of the guards smarted.

Arthur gave a small mocking laugh and waited for the pain as the guard jerked his arm chains tight for no reason as the carriage slowed to the gate for transport. The carriage jerked to a halt and he banged his head against the side of the roof. He groaned in slight pain and he saw the side view of the guard's smirk as the driver pulled out the funnel escape and began the water drainage. The _Caveam_ had no direct access to the rest of the city. It contained a gravity field around it that would sink any unwelcomed visitor to the bottom of the sea if they got to close and was only able to be entered by a tunnel that ran underneath the ground and into the main facility of the prison. Arthur was thrown to his knees and groaned as the funnel unspiraled from the carriage and connected itself to the large tunnel that shot up from the rockface. Arthur was shoved into the center of the funnel and he was laying on his back, being strapped into the safety harness and giving a sarcastic kissing face to the guard. The guard gave a small laugh and with a big, white smile, grabbed a mouth guard and shoved it inside his mouth. Arthur began calmly humming a surface tune and tapped his feet, just annoying the guards to the brink of insanity.

"Prisoner is ready!" the carriage driver said, flipping up an electronic display and nodding to the guards.

With a quick shove, Arthur and his harness was shoved into the funnel, sliding in the metal for a moment before stopping because of no force being exerted on it. After a brief click echoed through the sea-green tunnel, air pressure built up behind Arthur and he groaned inside his mouth guard as the pressure forced his eyes shut. When enough pressure equated to more than his 230-pound body, he shot across the tunnel, sliding down and up through the many passageways as he flew to the prison.

He was already planning his next escape.


	7. Air Out

"Seriously, how many jets do they have?" Barry asked to himself as two more jets soared across the Central City Skyline.

He now sat in his office at the Central City Police Department, staring out the window as it looked like a military occupation was taking place. He slammed his case file on his desk and rubbed his eyes. There was no way he could concentrate on his work after hearing the strange warning from Hal's future father-in-law. Barry waited patiently for Hal to reply. Just a few minutes earlier, Hal had went to go visit one of his best friends, John Stewart, a former Marine and war buddy that had fought with Hal. They were going to find out what was going on. While he could fly around with the help of a green ring given to him by a race of aliens that acted as the universe's police force. They were called the Green Lanterns. Barry's reputation with them was favorable as he had fought with them on several missions on Earth, located in Sector 2814 of the universe.

"I can't take this anymore. I need to air out." Barry said, stretching his arms and flying out of his empty office with a yellow streak flying behind him.

* * *

><p>"Easy on the table, Clark. Just assembled it a few days ago." Batman said to Superman as he threw the carcass of the android onto a sleek silver operating table in the medicalscience bay of the Batcave.

"Sorry. You don't have any Kryptonite hanging around, do you?" Superman asked.

"No. Not around this section of the cave, anyway." Batman replied with seriousness.

Superman shook his head and watched as Batman flipped out a small box with a pair of tweezers already in his hand. He peeled away the polymer across the forehead and a brief shot of viscous fluid shot out, hitting his cowl. Batman paused his operation and sighed for a moment, receiving a brief smile from his friend. Superman scanned the body with his x-ray vision and made sure no hidden explosive was going to go off and hurt the investigator or destroy the evidence. He watched as Batman pulled out a large box with damaged circuits attached to the back of it. He saw Batman touch his right temple and a small noise indicated he was now viewing the object through a different vision filter.

"What is that? A circuit board?" Superman asked.

"Not at all. It's a GPS receiver module. Good thing the cave is coated in a lead lining. I'll see if I can see where this piece originated."

Superman walked with him over to the computer and he put it under a microscope, his breathing becoming heavy as he began to nod his head. Superman looked at the GPS chip and saw Batman look up from the viewfinder with a frown.

"What's wrong?"

"The serial numbers seem familiar. _Very _familiar." Batman answered, opening a data tab on his computer built into the cold rock wall and typing in the serial numbers from eidetic memory.

He slapped the enter key and watched as the grey logo for LexCorp materialized on the large screen. Batman nodded in silence and turned to the card, picking it up and sighing.

"Luthor's behind this. Let's go talk to him." Batman said.

"Allow me. I can be there in ten minutes."

"But I found this out. I need to be involved on this one. I need to exchange some words with him as well."

Superman held Batman back and cleared his throat to gain his attention.

"You know I hate it when you touch me." Batman said, moving away from Superman's hand.

"Also, I need to tell you about the main reason I wanted to talk to you." Superman said.

Batman turned around and looked at him.

"Tell me."

Superman sighed and crossed his arms as he prepared to tell his best friend a horrible truth.

"Soon... and I don't know when... the world's eyes are going to be opened to something else. Something new and dangerous. I don't know all the details but there's an entire civilization we've never been aware of. I've been working with the government and the military over the past few weeks bu-."

"Wait!" Batman said, holding his hand and up interrupting Superman.

"Why have you been working with them? Are you a messenger for them now? I thought it was your job to protect and serve? Not become a U.S. lackey boy."

Superman shook his head and looked at the top of the cave.

"You don't understand. This is going to happen soon. And when it does, the world is not going to be the same."

"I remember the whole foreboding speech back when I was still at Blackgate. Just tell me what's going on."

"Okay, well first of all-." he began before the Dark Knight interrupting once again.

"Tell me later. We're going to Metropolis. And bring our android friend. We're going to pay Luthor a visit."

* * *

><p>The streets of Central City were always relatively calm. Even if crime was rampant and it always was; it never had the crime rates or reputation carried by Metropolis or Gotham. As Barry ran through the streets at well over 900 MPH, he looked around at the traffic and the Centralites roaming around in the chilly December air. The streets were busy in the holiday season, with everyone holding shopping bags or standing in lines that stretched into the streets. Barry was a fan of the seasonal vibes and colorful atmosphere. But nowadays, there would be two red suited legends on Christmas Eve.<p>

He looked from the rooftop of an apartment complex and tried to spot any instances of crime. The chilly breeze made him stand up and collect some warmth in his hands as he sped them up and created friction. His suit was good at generating and concentrating friction at high speeds. He wore special gauntlets on sides of his forearms that were conductive and used his excess Speed Force energy for a helpful tool in his crime-fighting career. He touched his cheeks and blew out an exhale of mist before hearing the brakes of a car squeal. He narrowed his eyes and jumped off the roof. As he soared through the air, Barry used his ability which he called the Speed Force to slow down time and his field of view increased exponentially due to time dilation. He had once read a quote from a famous physicist that said when you speed up, space contracts, leaving everything else to expand. Barry turned his head to the left and saw the accident about to happen. Through the space of two skyscrapers, he saw a large truck swerving away from a small child standing in the street and Barry twisted his body, spinning around at 800 MPH and diving to the street below. He hit the ground softly, reaching it before gravity had a chance to affect him and zoomed toward the child. He leaped across a row of parked cars in a parking lot swinging across a lightpole and leaving hot dents in the metal as he spun off of it and landed on the street near the child. He ran as fast as he could, seeing the truck miss the child and about to crash into a wall of traffic. He ran ahead of the truck and hopped on the driver door, opening it up with his enhanced strength and pulling the emergency brake. He jumped off the hood and ran to the six cars in front of the incoming eighteen-wheeler. He opened the doors of the drivers and passengers with lightning-fast speed. In the span of two seconds, seven people were left sitting on the sidewalk and Barry returned to normal time.

The eighteen-wheeler immediately slowed down and tires squealed as it careened into two of the six cars in traffic. The cars were crushed instantly and wreckage flew into the air. Barry ran on top of one of the cars and grabbed the wreckage, using his different hold on gravity to force the wrecked car down to the street. He returned to normal time and looked at the driver of the truck. He sped over to him and opened the door, blood covering his forehead and the top of the steering wheel.

"Are you alright, sir?" he asked, looking around and seeing that the child was still standing still.

"Uh... yeah. Is the girl safe?" the driver responded, his eyes closed from the pain of his wound.

Barry's head whipped around at super speed and he ran near the girl. He looked at her and she finally turned around, wearing a collar around her neck. The collar was covered by the maroon hoodie she wore and she had tears coming down her freckled face. Barry looked at her and saw that she had a long metal tube slid up her right sleeve. Barry stopped in his tracks and froze. He was about to grab the tube with his powers but noticed a thin wire that ran up her sleeve and led to her chest. Barry was fast. But circuits were faster. Something was off.


	8. Key

***I've conducted a small retcon in my series. For those of you who don't know what that is, a retcon is when a small part of history is changed in a story in order to let different events happen. For my retcon, Lex Luthor is a little different. Halfway through writing Batman VS Superman more than a year ago, I realized that making Luthor the man he's always been, a bald man who was hellbent on killing the Man of Steel, wasn't the right way to do him justice. I've went back and 'recasted' him as a man with hair. Joaquin Phoenix was in the running for Dawn of Justice and I could have seen him in the role. So yes, Joaquin is Lex Luthor. You probably won't believe me but I swear, right before they even announced the DOJ movie, I was thinking about things like this.**

* * *

><p>"Queen... let's work something out first. I need an extra cut and you need some more attention for Consolidated." Lex Luthor said, taking his feet off of his desk and spinning his chair around to face the nighttime skyline of Metropolis.<p>

As Robert Queen was telling him about a new merger between the two companies, he was startled as he saw Superman hovered from above and face him. Luthor jumped back and hung up his phone, slamming it on its base as Superman looked intently at him. Lex gave a small smile and teased him by motioning his index finger toward him. Superman stood still and Luthor stood up, his arms crossed around his broad chest while laughing briefly.

"Want to give me a Christmas present?" he asked coyly.

"He doesn't." a familiar voice said behind him.

Lex swallowed and waited for the punchline.

"But I do."

Batman grabbed him by his shoulder and slammed him into the swivel chair while Superman vanished in a quick blur. Batman spun him around and walked over to the front of the desk, his cape draped around his whole body and the darkness adding to his ambience as a horrible creature of the night.

"How are you, Bruce?" Lex asked.

Batman didn't reply, his cape fluttering as Superman flew into the room, locking it and closing the blinds before the two humans could react. Superman stood beside Batman and looked down at Lex as he remained calm in his chair.

"This is your handiwork, Lex. Why was it inside an android in Gotham?" Superman asked, tossing the LexCorp-imprinted chip on his desk.

Lex raised an eyebrow and picked up the module, holding it to the lamp light on his desk and humming softly. He nodded and sat it directly in the center. He laced his hands together and sighed.

"I have no clue. Android?" Lex asked, looking puzzled.

"Don't lie to us, Luthor. You don't want me to interrogate you." Batman muttered.

Lex gave a scoff at the Dark Knight and combed his hair over to the left.

"You think I'm afraid of you, Wayne? You won't kill me. You can hang me over a ledge... but you won't toss me over. You can punch me as much as you like... but the day will end. You aren't a threat to me. And the Boy Scout?" he said, looking at the frown on Superman's face.

"Please."

Batman jumped into motion, pulling out a taser device and flicking his wrist out, the nodes attaching to his neck and shocking him out of his chair. He screamed loudly and was paralyzed, all of his muscles tense and bulging from his suit. Superman sighed and looked at Batman who stood in place and waited for the shock to finish delivery.

"Now," Batman said, walking over to Lex as the shock treatment finished its run and grabbing him by his head, throwing him into his desk. Superman ran over to them and stopped his friend from causing anymore injuring by holding the businessman up by his suit jacket. Batman looked in his pained eyes and held the chip up to his face.

"Why was there LexCorp tech in the android?" Batman said.

"I don't know! I didn't put it there."

"You do know why you're a suspect, don't you? It's just a little suspicious that a threat containing your invention suddenly attacks the city of one of your enemies." Superman added in.

Lex lifted his head upward and relaxed his body, not feeling an ounce of fear or regret.

"I have so many enemies. You think the _Batman_ is any different? Every day, I receive threats from all over. But that's not what we're talking about. No. I didn't have anything to do with attacking you, Bruce. But my products are sold worldwide. Why would you think it's me just because it has my company in it? I don't care about you anymore. I have bigger things to tackle than a man dressed a bat. Good job on taking down Perry. That guy was a major thorn in my side." Lex said to Batman.

"Stop stalling, Luthor." Superman said, letting him go and dropping him back into his chair.

Lex sat back in his chair and Batman tossed the module into his lap. He held it between his fingers and looked at it, scanning over the small prongs and various pieces of wiring that surrounded it.

"A GPS module. It allows the device to beam signals to my satellites. Lots of processing power and energy. 30,000 a piece. Very expensive. Where's the rest of the android?" Lex asked, Batman handing him a pair of tweezers.

Superman ran out of the office to gather the rest of the android and Lex looked at Batman.

"What are these for?" he asked, holding the tweezers up.

"I noticed something. Look on the left side. There's a small bug attached. I couldn't identify it."

Lex pulled out a pair of glasses and looked at the circular blue bug that clung to the side. He tried to remove it with the tweezers and struggled as it wouldn't come off. He stared at it and watched as Superman flew back into the scene, the android flopping onto his desk. He backed up and rolled his eyes.

"I just got this desk. Brand-new."

"You have the money to fix it. Here's the rest of it." Batman replied.

Lex observed the powered-down body and felt the skin of the body, immediately recognizing the texture and nodding his head.

"I've seen this work. They use the prosthetic skin to replicate human flesh."

"_They_?" Batman asked.

"The U.S. Military. They wanted to create androids that would save soldiers' lives while give the enemy the impression that they were winning. Psychology and all that. I was helping them. But they shut the project down."

"Obviously not. What about the GPS chip?" Batman asked.

"I would check at S.T.A.R. Labs, honestly. I gave this design to them. I never saw one of these physically. And whatever this bug does," Lex replied, tapping the blue dot attached to the module.

"It does a damn good job."

Superman looked in Luthor's eyes and could tell that he wasn't lying. He watched as Luthor switched on his laptop and typed in a word phrase on a database bar. Batman eyed the keywords and frowned. He waited as a page popped up and Luthor turned it around and showed them.

"S.T.A.R. Labs. The one in Phoenix. They'll have the designs. And probably have the answers you want."

Batman looked at the sincerity in the man's eyes.

"Why are you helping us? Are you worried about something?"

"Yes. If my technology is being used without my knowledge, I tend to get pissed off. I'm not gaining anything from this and it seems to be causing trouble. Don't expect this from me all the time. This is a one-time deal." Lex replied.

As Batman looked at the S.T.A.R. Labs address and map, he saw a strange flickering on the screen and Superman caught the strangeness as well. Lex peered over his desk and watched as a loud noise blared through the screen and the picture of a skeleton key vibrated in place. The three men looked at each other and saw a man come on screen. He was mid-30's, brown hair, and a cleft chin. He was fairly muscular for his age and looked older in his eyes and posture. He was shaving his face and the camera recording him was seen in the mirror reflecting the footage. He was inside a luxurious bathroom full of golden panels for the walls, extravagant wallpaper, and a very expensive bathrobe. He smiled at the camera and shaved across the left side of his face, the white shaving cream snowballing inside the razor as he began to speak.

"Hello, Earth. If you are connected to a radio signal, television network, or the Internet, you are currently viewing me right now. I estimate that I now have the attention of just around 3 billion people." he said simply.

"You don't know who I am yet... but you will. I am the key to our planet's salvation. To our survival as a people." he continued, shaving around the edge of his face.

"What is this?" Batman asked.

He looked at Superman and could tell that he knew something that the rest didn't.

"Enough with the exposition. Let me get down to my cause and how things are going to run. In the next three minutes, people are going to die in a major American city. Another will suffer a complete blackout. Which ones? You'll find out shortly. These attacks will be the first of many. The first events that will bring about a new awakening. A rebellion if you will. The United States will be a changed country by morning. War will be started and everyone who has been shielded by the veil... will see the light." the man continued ominously.

Batman stared at Superman and he shook his head.

* * *

><p>Barry stood still in the street and could hear every car radio blaring the man's signal. He listened to it as the girl remained still.<p>

"For those of you about to die... I am truly sorry. You will become martyrs. Heroes. The remembered. I pray to God that your souls are set. But this... is the only way we can truly achieve a form of world peace."

Barry looked around and wondered if the threat was real. He then looked at the tube the girl was holding and realized what was about to happen.

"I am sorry. And for the survivors..." the man said; pausing for a moment.

"Prepare for a new world."

The signal cut off and Barry watched as the girl began to raise her arm. He jumped at her and grabbed the tube before she could press the button, holding it in his hand and looking at the girl. She began to cry and fell to her knees. Then, behind him, he heard a small and very faint beep. He flicked his head around with his powers and saw the truck driver holding a cell phone, pressing the send button with a look of regret on his face. He ran at him and saw him drop the phone.

"Everyone get down!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, looking at the skyline of Central City and seeing the largest building in the city, the Central Tower explode, detonations occurring along the front and sides of the building. He screamed in anger and ran past the crowd of people that fell to the ground. He felt the intense vibrations of the explosion and watched as six city blocks surrounding the tower exploded as well. He watched as concrete flew into the air and people on the streets were killed. Cars flipped into nearby buildings and dust flew as the entire front section of the Central Tower fell into the streets below. Barry ran past a cloud of debris and saved three college students, shoving them into an alley and running up the side of the building to save more civilians.

Barry dodged another explosion and watched in horror as more skyscrapers exploded as well, sending a heat and sound wave across the entire city. He ran through a broken window and saved ten people from being crushed by a falling ceiling. He ran as fast as he could and rescued them all within two seconds. He ran outside the second window as the ceiling caved in and completely flipped the floor sideways, sending him into a violent toss outside of the building. He hit the side of another building and was completely blind as dust clouds flew up and surrounded him as he fell fifty feet to the cracked and debris-covered ground.

"No..." he said weakly as he saw buildings fall and people die in violent explosions or collisions. He crawled out of the street and flipped onto the sidewalk as an SUV swerved out of his way and crashed into a telephone pole.

He saw it fall and rolled out of the way with the Speed Force, hitting the wall beside him. He quickly stood up and grabbed a few injured people as another building, a branch of Central City Bank toppled over and blocked off the street in a massive blast. He let go of the two people and slid to a stop, getting hit by a car that was flying in the air from another detonation. He screamed in pain and flew through the air, slowing down time and preparing a softer landing than the pavement. He saw the ledge of a windowsill and grabbed it, slipping off at the last second and slowing him down enough as he hit a parked car's windshield. He crashed through it and collapsed in pain as buildings continued to fall and people screamed their last breaths.

"Iris..." he said before passing out.

* * *

><p>"What the hell was tha-?" Lex began before the dimmed lights in his office cut off and the laptop resorted to battery mode.<p>

They watched as the entire city skyline went dark, only leaving the car headlights on the streets. Batman and Superman ran to the window and Lex pulled up the shades, sighing in relief.

"It wasn't us."

"But that means that somewhere else..." Superman said.

"A lot of people just died."


	9. Face-to-Face

Hal Jordan ran past the fighter jet's blast of heat and fire and ran back inside the military base, racing to find his father-in-law. He dodged several panicked shoulders and saw Ferris standing outside his office door with a phone in his hand. He saw Hal approaching him and hung up the phone, waiting as Hal faced him aggressively.

"Central City just got bombed, Carl. What the hell is going on?"

"It's a rogue. He's got more power than we thought. Come with me."

"Who has more power than you thought? Don't play the pronoun game with me." Hal replied.

"The man we were warned about. The Pentagon told us this would happen." Ferris answered, walking quickly inside his office and grabbing his keys and briefcase.

Hal followed him out of the office and closed the door, seeing the mass of uniformed soldiers running to their battle stations. The roar of plane and jet engines was deafening and the intercom's voice was drowned out by the chaos. He followed his commanding officer into the next hallway section and struggled to keep up with his pace. They remained silent for a moment until Hal turned his head and faced him.

"Do you even know what's going on?"

"Not really. It all happened so fast. The Pentagon told us two months ago that at least 20 terabytes of sensitive government information had been stolen from one of the Pentagon's bulk data buildings on the West Coast. I wasn't privy to any of the data but the suits wanted the thief found. He found out things, Hal. Things that only a hundred couple knew about. The one person I talked to, a man named Victor Sage, he told me that if the data got out to the public, it could start a war with us and some other power." Ferris said.

"Who? North Korea? China?"

"No. Someone else. That was all he told me before he planted agents at the base here. This is serious. I need you to leave right now and get Carol. Take her to our cabin. I want her away from any major city. Go to our lake house just a little south of San Diego."

"Okay. What are you going to do?" Hal asked.

"I'm going to try and find Sage. I want in. This man just killed countless innocent people to try and prove some ludicrous point. We're going to find him and obliterate him from existence."

"Sir..." Hal said, wanting to join the fight as well.

"No, Hal. Your duty is to protect my daughter. I can't do that anymore. She needs to be safe."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

><p>"Alfred, we need information. I'm assuming you got the message." Batman said as he and Superman stood on the roof of LexCorp HQ. He was speaking to his loyal family butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Alfred had been his oracle for help in his two years fighting crime in Gotham. He resided in the large cave system beneath Wayne Manor while Bruce fought against the evil in the city.<p>

"Yes, sir. Gotham is fine. No blackout or explosions heard. What about Metropolis?" Alfred responded through his cowl radio.

"Blackout. I have Superman with me. Check Central, Coast, Star, Keystone. We know a city was hit. Clark can hear the aftermath."

Superman's super-hearing was capable of reaching hundreds of miles out. He could hear explosions from the West but was unable to confirm a location. Batman waited patiently as the whole city was devoid of any light, the moon barely shining through the brief layer of smog that covered. They waited with stressed hearts and Batman stirred in his gargoyle-like stance as Alfred cleared his throat.

"Central City is reporting lots of fires, injured, and disruption calls. I think they were hit." the butler said, his voice sinking lower with every second that passed by.

"Let's go." Batman said, jumping in the Batwing that was parked beside them.

* * *

><p>"What are you in for?" an older Atlantean said as he sat beside Arthur at the line-up.<p>

The prison line-up, in which they captured their image on a highly detailed exposure lens, was made up of two large rooms inside the _Caveam_. After the camera had finished its job, the two of them moved toward the transparent hallway that led to the holding cells. Arthur sighed and looked at the prisoner with a small smile.

"Oh, just being the true heir to Atlantis. I was framed by Serin and she's trying to get rid of me so she can control everything. It's a whole big conspiracy."

"I think they brought you to the wrong wing, son." the prisoner said before moving ahead of Arthur awkwardly with his foot shackles.

Arthur stayed behind and looked outside into the beautiful ocean scenery lit up by the city before a guard hit him hard with a shock stick in the back. Arthur cried in pain and fell to the ground, hit in the back of the head a few times before picked up swiftly by the heavy guard. He turned his head to look at his attacker and watched as he saw Serin walking behind him, holding Princess Diana and her bodyguard by a water leash. Arthur raised an eyebrow and looked at them with confusion.

"Judge Serin?" he asked.

Serin gave a sly smile and looked at him with a scowl from Hell as she became face-to-face with him. Diana was gritting her teeth and struggled to break free from the High Council Queen's grasp. She gave a deep sigh and stared at his uniform.

"Hello, again, Orin. Glad you didn't have to receive a change of clothes."

"What are you doing with them? You can't even touch them! International rights!" Arthur yelled.

Serin shushed him with a long and bony finger, making him whip his head back in disgust.

"She says we are guilty of sabotage! A bomb was found at your Temple of Knowledge and it has Themyscirian markings on it. It wasn't us!" Diana's bodyguard said.

The High Council Queen turned to them and smacked the bodyguard in the face.

"Yet you two are the only people of your kingdom in Atlantis."

She released Diana from her water leash momentarily before tossing her against the wall hard; letting two guards shock her repeatedly. Serin punched the bodyguard across the face and grabbed her by her long braid of red brown hair. She punched her again and let her fall to the ground in a painful thud. Arthur was surprised by Serin's sudden fighting skills and stood back, watching as the beautiful princess was shocked by the guards. He broke the grasp of the guard holding him and kicked him in the genitals. He leaped at Serin and tackled her to the ground, throwing her against the glass-like wall of the tunnel.

"What are you doing? You're going to start a war, dammit!" Arthur said.

"War…" she said ominously.

"Has already begun."

Before Arthur could reply, two shock sticks were struck directly into his back and he was thrown off of the High Council Queen, landing beside the near-unconscious princess Diana. He looked at her and they both watched as her bodyguard was hit repeatedly.

"If they hurt Artemis anymore… I will be forced to-." Diana began.

"We can't do anything! We need to figure out a way to get out of here." Arthur said quietly as Artemis stopped being beaten and was picked up swiftly by the largest guard.

"Who are you?" Diana asked with a tired voice.

Arthur paused for a moment and swallowed hard.

"I'm the real king of Atlantis and we're getting out of here."


	10. Crisis

Barry flicked his eyes open and looked around, seeing ash fall from the sky and the eerie echo of 'Silver Bells' playing from a broken speaker on a shop front to his left. The light and fluffy snow falling from the now-orange sky blended with the ash that fell and increased the scope of the disaster. Barry closed his eyes and felt all the open wounds on his body, biting his lip as he felt his left shinbone crack back into place. He rolled off of the destroyed car and could see the various firetrucks, police cars, and helicopters soaring and rolling past. He stood up and felt blood on his cheek, wiping it and finding his face wound to be healed. His suit was scuffed up and the polymer had slightly melted on his left forearm. He looked around and saw the people bleeding and crying on the streets. EMTs and police officers were rushing to help the injured and Barry ran over a flipped-over school bus, seeing small children inside, all with various wounds. Within a few seconds, all of the children were outside and safe from any more danger.

"I need a medic. I've got children!" Barry yelled at the top of his lungs.

A nearby EMT heard his call and swiped away a cloud of smoke and dust, seeing the Central City hero looking damaged and tired. The EMT ran over to him quickly with his medical bag and kneeled down to help the first child who had a severe cut on his arm.

"How many do you think are injured?" the Flash asked.

"I don't know. Thousands, I'd guess. Probably an equal amount are..." the EMT said before looking at the child's face and giving Flash a stare.

Flash understood and ran ahead, blowing away smoke from the streets so more first responders could see the full extent of the damage. He ran up the side of a nearby skyscraper, one of the lucky few that hadn't been hit, and looked at the destruction from high in the air. The city had been blown to Hell. Fires were everywhere, smoke covered most of the city, and the screams and sirens never let up. Flash bent down on one knee and shook his head. This was a crisis like no other. The biggest terrorist attack in the history of the world. And it had to be Central City. He pulled out his phone from his belt and quickly dialed Iris' number, praying to God that she would answer him.

"Barry?" he heard her voice say after a few painful seconds of silence.

"Baby! Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm stuck in our apartment building. After the first explosion went off, I ran down the steps and then, the Cattard Building got hit. It fell against our building and I'm stuck with about thirty or forty people in the stairway. We're trapped. Are you okay?" she answered.

"No. You don't know what's happened, Iris. Central City is gone."

He could hear Iris crying over the phone and heard her struggle against something on the other line. Scrapes and yelling was heard and Barry tensed up, eyeing the apartment building three miles out.

"Give me that damn phone!" he heard a man yell before the line went dead.

The Flash put the phone back in his belt and got a running start, leaping off the building at 900 MPH and shattering the section of the roof he had been standing on. He was more angry than ever before, all his emotions pouring out and letting him run faster than ever before. He screamed and cried at the same time, dodging traffic, people on the streets, and even a helicopter as he leaped fifty feet in the air, crashing back down to the Earth and making a small crater on the sidewalk below. He saw the Cattard Real Estate Building broken apart and leaning against their building, pieces of rubble falling off every couple of seconds. He ran inside the building, crashing through the front doors and zooming through the fire escape, scaling three floors every second until he came to the walled-off section where Iris was. He could hear lots of people yelling inside and pounded hard on the rock wall.

"Can anybody hear me?" he yelled.

No response.

"Hello?" he screamed.

Again, only more yelling.

He groaned in anger and punched at the wall, bits of concrete flying and his knuckles breaking. He flung his hand back and looked at his broken fingers in pain before seeing a crack in the wreckage. He waited a moment, hearing the bones in his fingers click back together and all the strands of muscle retwine again. He shook off the strange sensation of his healing and looked at the crack in the wall, beginning to rub his hands against the fissure, his hands moving extremely fast and grinding away at the concrete. His hands made a sound similar to a sand grinder and he leaned his head back, bits of rock bouncing off of his cowl. Flash saw the fissure grow by eight feet and suddenly, the sound of panicked people flooded through and a flood of people ran up to the hole.

"Flash! Flash!" a man yelled.

"Get us out of here! We're about to die!" another said, their bloodied face popping up.

Flash looked at them and tried to find Iris, finally seeing her run up and push her way through the crowd and give a small smile at him. Before their small moment could continue, a loud crash echoed from above and Flash looked up, seeing a large section of the skyscraper fall down. Flash zoomed out of the way and watched as the wall began to crack, concrete bursting apart and giving him a few precious seconds to act. He looked at Iris and looked deep in her eyes before motioning her to stand back.

"It's okay, everybody! Stay clear! I'm breaking this wall down." he told all of them.

They obeyed and receded back into the darkness of their entrapment and waited patiently. Flash backed up ten feet and moved his arms and legs at the fastest level his body would allow him. He had learned one thing since his discovery of his powers. The faster an object traveled, the more mass it carried. His entire body became nothing but a red blur and he slowed time down to a point where he observed small particles of dust standing in place. He saw the cracks along the walls increase in number and he prepared his stance. This place was going to fall apart. What he was trying to do was impossible. But then again, he could run faster than the speed of sound so maybe... there was a chance. He ran at the rock wall and could feel the power in every step he took. The floor crushed beneath him and at the last second, he jumped through the air, bracing for impact as he hit 800 MPH. He collided with the wall and his entire right arm was crushed and he felt his face dent in severely. He screamed in pain and watched as the wall exploded apart, blowing a person size hole in the concrete. He bounced back and flew down the stairs, breaking a few more bones as he lied in pain. The sides of the apartment building collasped and Flash looked around, seeing chunks break apart and about to fall down on the escaping innocents. He stood up with super speed, bones cracking back into place and his cheekbone pushing back out to its original place. He ignored the painful healing process and jumped up the stairs, running alongside of the wall as he grabbed Iris and another woman first, rushing them down to the second floor before going back for more.

Iris barely had time to catch a breath hearing her boyfriend break the sound barrier multiple times in just a few seconds. Her hair was blown back and she fell down, over thirty people standing in front of her, all shocked. Flash stood in front of them, blood covering his suit and his chest pounding in and out deeply. He locked eyes with Iris and she gave a small smile before he cleared his throat.

"Get out of the building... quick. It's coming down." he said before zooming back up through the building to rescue other trapped Centralites.

"You are the son of Atlanna? She was one of the greatest leaders we've ever known." Diana responded to Arthur as he had explained his whole story to her as they sat in the holding cells before being taken to seperate sides of the prison.

"Thanks. That's Mom for you. So, Princess... what did Serin do?"

"After refusing to sign the treaty, she was told by a guard that a bomb had been found. A bomb of Themyscirian origin. She immediately looked at me and Artemis and took us in. No questions allowed. It wasn't us. We arrived two hours ago and went straight to the court. We're being set up."

"Believe me, I know. There's something wrong happening. I'm was actually raised in the United States. Do you know what that is?" Arthur asked.

"Oh, yes. I work with the Pentagon. I'm friends with Colonel Steve Trevor. Do you know him?" Diana replied.

Arthur shook his head.

"Well, I think your High Council Queen is trying to start a war with America. I'm sure you are aware of the Orca?"

"Yes. I've heard a little about it. Just little whispers here and there. I try to spend my time between here and my place up in Maine. It's an Atlantean battleship, right?" Arthur said.

Diana nodded her head and looked around the cell, seeing a guard walk by and falling silent. Once the man had passed and aided by the chatter of prisoners outside of the cells, the two resumed their discussion.

"It contains special equipment that allows them to use sound as a weapon. There are no spears or guns used. Simple sound. It is devastating. My handler, Mr. Trevor, was sent on a hunt to find the Orca. They broke into Atlantis two months ago and found it. They took photos and video. The United States sent me here to make sure peace would remain between us all." she said.

"Wait," Arthur said, backing up and feeling a sense of distrust.

"How does the U.S. even know about Atlantis?"

"I told them." Diana said simply.

Arthur sighed and buried his face in his hands. Diana rose an eyebrow and was confused.

"What is the problem? I told them about us as well."

"Princess..." Arthur said.

"You told the government that there was a secret civilization down below the depths of the Atlantic. You told them that they were militarized and had weapons?"

"Yes." she replied bluntly.

"And you didn't expect them to want and come check it out?"

Diana looked at him, puzzled.

"It's an American expression. It means see for themselves."

She nodded in agreement. She gave a small smile and her dumbness to America's thought process shone through brightly. Arthur was slightly worried that because of this Amazonian's actions, she could start a war.

"I don't think you understand what the States does when they learn about something like this. They like to take over everything, Princess. And I mean everything."

"But they were so nice and calm about it." Diana said.

Arthur buried his face in his hands again. This woman was beautiful, grand, and elegant. But very, very stupid.


	11. Step Two

"Your bags packed? We need to go." Hal Jordan told Carol as she gathered a travel bag for a three-day trip.

"Just one second. I need the..." she replied, yelling from the bathroom as she pointed at her toothbrush sitting in its dish at their apartment.

"Toothbrush."

Hal kept looking outside their window for any signs that something similar to what had happened in Central. He looked at the dusk sky and flicked his eyes to his watch, seeing the time falling away. He tapped his foot and slid the Green Lantern ring around his middle finger. He watched as his beautiful fiance came out from the hallway with her bag and handed it to him. Hal gave her a big hug and she gave him a sweet, little kiss across his cheek. They looked at the room for a moment and she looked up at him, her head resting at the bottom of his scruffy chin. She kissed the bottom of his head and suddenly eyed the cabinet next to the hallway with suspicion. She looked up at Hal and he caught her gaze, watching her let go of him and walk quickly over to the cabinet. The lock had been adjusted from the handles and she eyed it, staring back at him. He swallowed and hung his head down with a loud and embarrassed sigh. She looked at him and tore open the cabinet doors, breaking one of them off in anger and staring at the lone bottle of whiskey, almost completely empty. Hal stretched his arms out as the wood doors flew near him and he gave up, knowing there was no covering up his mistakes.

"Hal..." she began before falling silent.

"I'm sorry, Carol. I really am. I've been trying. You know that. But... I could- I couldn't resist. Work was tough and after the whole debacle on Apiaton... I needed a break from it all." Hal said, trying to explain himself.

"How long were you sober? Before this?" she asked, holding the bottle by its neck and letting it hang below her waist. Her hands were shaking in anger and she waited anxiously for his answer.

"Almost a month."

"What step were you on, Hal? How far did you get?"

"Two. I only got to two."

"Just step two? Accepting a higher power? You know there's one! You've seen them!" Carol yelled.

"I don't know, babe. They are just creatures like us. I've never seen a higher power or a God that can cure me of this. My faith should be high but honestly, I don't think I have any."

"It doesn't have to be God, Hal. Anything. Your duty, the people you love, anything can be a higher power. You're sick, Hal. You are an alcoholic and I can't take it anymore."

"Do you really have to do this now? Hm? The world could be ending and you're worried about how much I'm drinking? It doesn't matter when everything else is falling apart. We need to leave! Now!" Hal said, raising his voice.

Carol gave a shocked laugh and shook her head at him. She tossed the whiskey bottle on the couch and pointed to it.

"When you're lying to me... saying that you're hanging out with Barry or working late and _actually_ drinking to reclaim some humanity... that's a huge problem. You are an force of good for the literal universe... why do you resort to this?"

Hal was silent. He had no words. He knew he had a problem. And becoming part of the Lantern Corps only made it worse.

"Just tell me the truth about something," she began, pausing for a moment and taking a breath.

"Last week... when you went to S.T.A.R. Labs with Barry. Was that the truth?"

Hal nodded.

"What about the run to that jungle planet? Was _that_ the truth?"

Hal shook his head.

"And the incident with the _Mirror Master_? What about that?"

"No. I went out and bought another bottle." Hal replied.

Carol sat on the couch and looked at him. She nearly cried and tried to collect herself, putting her long brown hair into a tight ponytail as he sat next to her and clapped his hands together.

"I... I don't know what to do. Every single second, all of my day is consumed with thinking about taking a drink. I can't help it. I try to think about you but it takes me over. I just don't understand, babe. I've led armadas of brave people to fight under my command. I've fought in wars, both on Earth and elsewhere. I can... I can fly through space across galaxies and stars, seeing places that few humans will ever see. Yet... I can't get over a bottle of liquor."

She wrapped an arm around his his shoulders and hugged him.

"I'm only mad because I love you. You know that, right?"

"I know. I just don't know what to do." Hal said.

Carol grabbed his face and saw a tear falling down from his face. She wiped it away with a small finger and stared at the whiskey bottle. She made him look at it and he tried to look away, sickened by the thought of it. He looked at her and she took a deep breath before speaking.

"You know the number one rule involved with this. Only _you_ can stop this. You have to do this for yourself." she said, keeping his face focused on the bottle.

No more needed to be said. He got up from his seat and grabbed the bottle, walking to the sink and popping the cap off of it. He poured all of the liquid down the drain, waiting until every last drop fell into the hole. Hal tossed the bottle into the trash can and walked back over to her, his hands shaking and a few tears drying on his face. Carol looked at him with a small smile and brushed back his close-cropped brown hair as he buried his head in her chest. He hugged her tightly and she held his head as they heard a jet fly over that brought them back to reality. He looked up and looked out the window before grabbing her hands and rubbing them together.

"We need to leave. I need you to be safe. I need my balance, Carol. I. Need. You." Hal said.

"Yes." Carol agreed, standing up and straightening her dress out.

Hal gathered their bags again and made sure his ring was tightly secured to his middle finger.

"Are you staying with me?" she asked.

"You know I can't. I'm going to find Barry and make sure he's okay. Then... I'm going to find the man who did this and stop him." Hal replied, his eyes narrowing at the thought of the terrorist.

She grabbed the alien-looking lantern sitting on the coffee table on held on to it tight as he came close to her with the travel bags.

"Good." she said with a smile, kissing him one last time before he sat the bags at her feet and surrounded her and him in a green concentration bubble projected by his mind. The green ring lit up and pulsed as he focused on the projection.

"Alright. I've only done this twice now. Just hold your breath and don't move. I'm pretty sure the ring will be dead so keep that lantern with you."

"Should I be worried?" Carol asked.

"I'm about to teleport you from Coast to the cabin. It's going to rile you up a bit. Just stay still, babe."

And with that remark, the room glowed green and with a swift breeze blowing through the apartment, they disappeared, shooting to the cabin through space-time itself.


	12. Epicenter

***This is a pretty epic chapter, so hold on to your seats and watch as the world of the Justice League breaks open and everything changes forever.**

* * *

><p>As Batman flew in his Batwing, guided by Superman in the chilly December air, he saw Superman shake his head and stop in mid-air. Batman pulled the hydraulics lever and the vehicle hovered in the air, snowflakes melting against the heat across the windshield. Batman shifted in his seat and turned on his headset that connected to an earpiece that Superman had.<p>

"What's wrong?" Batman asked.

"I'm getting a signal from Washington. They need me to come in." Superman replied.

"What? Like a radio signal?"

"Yes. A higher frequency than any human can hear. They need me."

"I'm coming with you. It'll have to do with this terrorist." Batman said.

Superman sighed and looked at him through the windshield. He shook his head and hovered close to the Batwing.

"You'd have to release your identity. They wouldn't be able to trust you."

"Do they know yours?" Batman asked.

"No, of course not."

"Let me guess. They gave you a free shot because you saved the world from Zod. I'm coming with you and that's final. They aren't taking my mask off."

"Fine." Superman said, narrowing his eyes.

"But I'm carrying the craft. You're way too slow."

* * *

><p>"Cell towers are down." Hal said to himself as he stuffed his phone into his pocket as he stood on the outskirts of Central City.<p>

He figured Barry wouldn't answer his phone but figured that it couldn't hurt to try. Smoke was rising and fires lit up the city as nearly all the lights were either covered by debris and ash or powered down. He cracked his knuckles, twirling his Lantern ring around before concentrating on the energy inside it, closing his eyes as an organic-looking suit covered his body, green and black armor surrounding every section of his body simultaneously. A green band formed perfectly over his eyes and the bridge of his nose, concealing his identity from the public. His eyes became a milky white inside the holes but his own vision became sharper and clearer. Green energy radiated from the center insignia that resembled a lantern and the pattern was fixed to his heartbeat. According to one of his trainers in the Lantern Corps, it was made that way to check the vitals of a Green Lantern in battle. He hovered a few feet up and brought his hand close to his mouth.

"Ring. Find Barry Allen."

He aimed the ring out to the wrecked city and it flashed brightly while scanning the horizon.

"Nervous system matching one Barry Allen is approximately four kilometers away." a monotone male voice said from it.

"Health status?"

"Alive. Pulse rate is 103 beats per minute. Broken bones."

"That's pretty low for Barry. Keep tracking, ring."

Hal stretched his floating legs and flew off into the distance, hoping to find his friend in good condition.

* * *

><p>That explosion had really taken a toll on Flash's energy. He groaned in exhaustion as he lifted his head to see the propane truck in flames, liquid fire dripping out from now-charred tank. He pushed himself up and looked at the fuel lines sticking up from out of the ground, seeing the danger he narrowly escaped. He turned his head to see the family coughing and helping their younger son with a burn on his arm. They were huddled behind the gas station, shielded from the blast by a large moving truck left behind by its owner minutes earlier.<p>

"Are you alright?" Flash asked in a raspy voice.

"Yes. Thank you. Thank you so much."

Flash nodded and looked around, seeing a green light flying through the city, extinguishing a building fire, green water splashing against the windows and smoke rising quickly. He gave a small smile and waited for a moment as the green light noticed him and flew down quickly to the road. Hal gently fell to the ground and shook his friend's hand quickly.

"I'm glad you're alright." he said.

"I'm fine. Iris is safe. Anything happen anywhere else?" Flash asked.

"Metropolis got hit by the blackout. No reported casualties. I'm going to find this terrorist. Can you help?" Hal asked.

Flash looked around the city and eyed the missing skyscrapers that once dotted the skyline. Someone had to pay for this. Key, as he called himself, was going to face justice. No matter what his supposed cause was, he needed to face his crimes and Barry. And it wasn't going to be pretty.

"I'm helping you. But first, I need to swing by S.T.A.R. Labs. My friend, Frank Lane makes my suits for me. They get damaged a lot. I'm testing out some new gadgets and it looks like I'll need them. I'll be right back. Meet me at the Square Park in 5 minutes." Flash said before speeding off.

Hal continued to hear the sounds of destruction all around and he rushed to help some people in danger.

* * *

><p>The city lights of Washington D.C. came into view from the cloudy skies and fluffy snow blanketed the landscape as Superman let go of the Batwing and let Batman regain control. Superman pointed to the Pentagon's third side on the left side and zoomed over to the roof, hoping a gun crew wouldn't be waiting for them. Superman lowered himself to the roof gently, brushing snow from his hair and shoulders as the Batwing quietly hummed to the roof, almost getting caught by a vent system. Batman jumped out of the craft, pressing a button on his wrist and speaking a command into his forearm.<p>

"Shields."

The Batwing's body tensed up and Superman heard some quiet clicks and watched as silver plating slid out from opening at the back of the pieces, covering them completely. Batman didn't look back and stood like a gargoyle, waiting for Superman to give the next command.

"How long do we have to wait for them?" he asked.

"They're quick. Within the next ten seconds. They are probably analyzing the Batplane, making sure you're not an enemy.

"Bat_wing_." Batman muttered before continuing.

"They better not pull any tricks. I won't stand for it. I will fight a government agent, Superman."

Superman scoffed and looked at him, speaking quietly.

"Please do not show your ass in here. This is the real deal. These guys press the button, Bruce. Do _not_ play with them."

"Oh, please. A bunch of men and women who sit behind a desk and send people off to war, hoping their corporations are kept safe. Believe me in this department; I know how these people are."

"Shut up." Superman hissed as four men arrived with pistols through the roof door aimed at their heads.

They were all over six feet tall and wore dark black suits without ties. Batman stood still and Superman gave a small wave to them. Their eyes were focused on Batman and so were their weapons. Batman remained still, waiting for the confrontation to end.

"Superman." one of them acknowledged.

Superman looked at the leading man and nodded.

"Tell the Batman to displace any weapons and remain quiet as we search him and unmask him inside the Pentagon." he said.

"I can hear you just fine, sir. I'm not taking my mask off. I want to help. Superman received the call while on an investigation with me and this involves my city as well. My weapons are correctly concealed and I have no reason to harm any of you." Batman replied.

The tension on the roof intensified, the snow blowing by creating an ambient tone of danger. The men kept their weapons aimed at the bat symbol on his chest and Batman hadn't moved an inch. Suddenly, Superman took a step and held his hands out toward the agents.

"It's fine, gentleman. I trust Batman with my life. He's on our side. Take my word."

The leading agent eyed Batman and saw the lack of emotion behind his white eyes and stern mouth. After a few more seconds of intimidation, he withdrew his weapon, his companions doing the same. He approached the two of them with a relaxed posture and shook Superman's hand with a firm grip. He walked over to Batman and held his hand out, Batman simply looking at him with some unknown feeling and took his hand back, giving only a miniscule nod.

"I'm sorry, men. But we have precautions and when a masked vigilante shows up on one of the world's most guarded buildings, we have reason to worry. What about your… craft, Batman? Is it powered down?" the man asked.

"Yes." Batman muttered bluntly.

"Good. Victor Sage, by the way." he added in as he let Batman and Superman walk in front of them to the roof door.

Superman was in relief and Batman could tell. They walked down the long staircase and waited at the bottom of the steps for the agents to take the lead. Sage walked ahead of them, stopping briefly as a woman carrying important papers in a cart saw the Batman and gasped. Sage took his arm and whispered something to her as her eyes were locked on the Dark Knight of Gotham City. The agents behind them were giving a small smirk, while looking at the costume in amazement. Batman was in the Pentagon and was being seen by numerous people inside. Inside, Batman hated it. He was supposed to lurk in the shadows, being an unseen force of justice instead of looking like he was at a government costume party.

They kept walking down the glass-walled hallway, passing by offices full of agents and a few politicians who were speechless as two of America's proclaimed heroes walked by them. Sages turned a corner and pulled out his keycard, letting the flashing green light scan the holographic plastic and open the large steel door. He let Superman and Batman in first, sending his backup agents away as the three of them walked into the room. It was filled with computer analysts working hard and in the middle of the room sat a circular table with a space in the center. The analysts didn't even noticed the two heroes in the room, preoccupied with whatever was making them run around and slam fingers into their keyboards.

Sage touched his earpieces and said something quiet into it. Batman and Superman stood around the table and Batman was observing every single inch of the room. It was a command center of sorts. There were twelve seats available and on the floor in the center laid a strange device that resembled a tire if it was flattened completely. He looked at the transparent screens above each of the seats and a wireless phone sat on a metal plate directly at the edge of the table.

"Mr. Craven is arriving now." Sage told them, looking at Superman.

"_Miles_ Craven?" Batman asked.

"Yes," Sage replied.

"You know of him?"

"Just that he's the Secretary of Defense."

Sage nodded.

After their brief conversation, Craven walked in, his grey hair slicked back and the pinkish cheek scar showing up prominently in the blue hue of the control room. He showed no extra attention at the sight of Batman and came over, shaking both of their hands quickly before taking a seat and plugging in a hard drive attachment into the bottom of his section of the table.

"Hello, gentlemen. Batman, I'm glad you can join us. I hope the security procedures weren't too rigorous. This is the Pentagon, you know." Craven said before signaling Sage to sit down as well as a hologram blinked into existence from the strange device Batman had noticed earlier.

On the blue projection that showed up, a hyper-realistic model of a facility showed up on the screen. Superman recognized the structure as S.T.A.R. Labs Headquarters in Arizona. A red dot showed up in the center of the building and Craven cleared his throat as he pointed to the dot.

"This is the epicenter of the whole attack. Three weeks ago, at 1200 hours exactly, we received an alert from inside the lab building. We first thought it was a malfunction but then, our analysts saw the reported virus travel from one supercomputer to another three floors down within seconds. No virus can just 'decide' where to go. Someone was physically controlling where this virus was going."

"What did it steal?" Superman asked.

"Data files on secret military joint projects. As we've told Superman," Craven said, turning to face Batman.

"The U.S. Military has been working with S.T.A.R. Labs on multiple non-lethal weapon systems and decoy projects."

"What about androids? Like mechanized human-looking robots with the ability to take down a metahuman such as Superman?" Batman asked, his silence ending.

"Metahuman?" Sage asked before Craven could do the same.

"It's what I call people with powers like his. I've face a few of these extraordinary beings. Obviously, Superman isn't human but I've seen people who can do things similar to him. Do you know if S.T.A.R. Labs has been making anything like that?" Batman replied.

Sage and Craven exchanged a quick glance and Batman caught it. He gave a small smirk at his win and crossed his arms.

"What's it called?" he asked. He retrieved a flash drive from his utility belt and quickly plugged it into the computer drive beneath him. He flipped out the hidden keyboard under the desk and a monitor swung up from underneath.

"How did you know that was there? There's no possi-." Craven began.

"Oh, please. I saw the buttons the second I sat down. What's _Project Amazo_? Seems devious. Especially with these blueprints that look like the android me and Superman took down an hour ago." Batman interrupted, typing and slamming keys with almost inhuman speed.

"Wait, what?" Sage said, slamming the table.

"It's inside my vehicle. Which you probably have five men guarding right now, correct?" Batman quipped, continuing to mash keys.

Sage sighed and Craven's knuckles went white. Superman rolled his eyes and breathed in deeply. He looked at Batman and held his hand out.

"What did I say? No confrontations."

Batman gave him a look and pointed to the screen. Superman saw the blueprints for the exact android design that had faced them earlier.

"I'm not being confrontational. You're just being lied to. So, Mr. Secretary…" Batman said, giving a cold stare at Craven.

"What's Project Amazo?"

"That's not relevant to the terrorist. And why did you bring the android here? It could be a sabotage attempt." Craven said, his voice stern and commanding.

"I made sure there was nothing wrong. It's dead. And it is relevant as some of the data stolen was in fact these blueprints for Project Amazo. This thing was capable of tossing a car and fending off an alien who can lift up a skyscraper. I suggest you cut through the act and start talking. This is going to get worse and I'd like to not waste time." Batman said.

"Who in the hell do you think you're talking to? You're a man wearing a bat costume who thinks he can talk over a former general. How many battles have you lead, son? How many men and women were under _your _control? How dare you try to talk me down?"

"I know who I'm talking to. A man who only got to this position because your predecessor was found snorting cocaine off a hooker in front of the DC paparazzi. Don't act like you're any better than me. I may dress like an animal…" Batman muttered.

"But how many of those stars and stripes did you actually earn?"

Craven stood up, tossing his chair behind him and stomping over to Batman with fury. Batman stayed in his seat as the Secretary slammed his arms down beside him and breathed in his face. The Dark Knight didn't move a muscle. Superman resisted the urge to make a move and him and Sage exchanged a quick look but the agent just nodded and crossed his arms.

"Listen here, _son_… I've done more than you could even imagine. I've fought in wars that you would only be able to crawl into a ball and cry. I've shot people at point-blank range and blown up villages. I sacrificed everything to get here. Don't think I'm like half of the corrupt politicians here. I want to help. I don't give a shit about the pay, the press I get, or the control. I had to fight for this. I earned every single pin on my jacket. So don't you ever judge me, boy. Do you understand?" Craven asked.

"Can we get down to business?" Batman replied rudely, turning his head toward him slowly.

Craven ignored his passion to beat his face in and quietly sat back down, clearing his throat and combing his black hair back into place.

"Six hours before he activated the newscast, S.T.A.R. Labs was hit again. Something was turned on. A signal. And if what you said about the Amazos is true, he's going to use them against us. A war is going to happen. Today."

"Who is _he_? You keep mentioning him. Who is the terrorist?" Superman asked.

"The United States' top enemy at the moment. Tomas Cooke. He was a lieutenant in the Marines. He was left behind during a recon mission in a village in Southeast Asia. He was stuck out in the jungle for three months. When we found him, he had lost his mind. He was honorably discharged and we give him a full salary every year. But the last two months, he's gone off the grid. Dropped off the face of the Earth." Craven answered, tossing two file folder to the heroes.

"How did you now it was him? Did he leave an accidental digital footprint? Hard drive upload? ID scanned?" Batman asked.

"Hard copy ID left behind and he was caught on camera. Just walked straight through the door with an employee. A young prosthetic specialist named Jan Myers. His photo ID was stuck in the door. It was intentional. He wanted us to know it was him." Sage said, showing them the security pictures.

Batman was handed them and he looked at them intently, studying both of their faces. There wasn't an ounce of resistance in her face. But she was nervous. She was on Cook's side. Batman put the pictures down and looked at Craven, trying to show him some respect.

"Has she been found?" he asked.

"Yes. We have two agents in Arizona right now."

"Let us try." Superman said, standing up and crossing his arms.

Batman stood up as well.

Sage sighed and looked at the both of them.

"If you go along with this investigation, you have to act fast. We don't know when Tomas will send another broadcast. We don't what he was planning."

"Then, let's not waste another second. He blew up Central City as a diversion. Something to capture people's attention before showing the real thing. Before we leave, is there any shady government secret you can think of that relates to this? Anything that an act of terrorism could cause a domino effect on? Any alliances or treaties that could be broken?" Superman asked.

"Something that could cause a _war_?" Batman added in.

Once again, Sage and Craven looked at each other and their heads raised quickly. Sage's face went white and Craven picked up the phone beside him, slamming the number keys in as Sage walked over to the two heroes.

"Ever heard of Atlantis?"

"The myth of the sunken city. Plato. Of course." Batman said.

Superman widened his eyes and looked at Batman with surprise.

"This is the civilization you told me about? Atlantis? You've got to be kidding me." Batman sighed.

"It's real." Sage said, clicking a remote in his hand and showing the two of them pictures of the underground city.

The images were grainy and cloudy, but through the lens of a submersible, a city with lights cutting through a warped-fishbowl-like view, similar to a wormhole. Superman squinted and looked at Sage.

"How have we never known anything about this? No evidence?" Superman asked.

"How long have you known about it?" Batman added in.

"Well over a year now. A woman from a place not far from the Bermuda Triangle came to America to seek peace. One of ours found her and brought her in. She's a fighter." Sage continued, clicking the remote again and showing a picture of the woman in question. She was a beautiful woman in strange armor with a muscular build and the elegance of a woman in power.

"Who _is _she?" Superman asked, taken by her beauty.

"Her name is Diana. She's an Amazon. Yes, a literal Amazon from Greek myths. Those myths, or at least most of them," Sage said before turning to the men.

"Aren't myths. And I mean everything you could think of. Zeus, Olympus, Hercules, Atlantis obviously, the goddamn Minotaur, and even the Golden Fleece. All based in fact. Her father... is Zeus. Zeus, based on what we can figure, is either an alien visitor who lives in an alternate dimension or a highly-powerful human who found a way to be like God. She is a warrior and a citizen of Themyscira, the mystical city of all women. When she arrived with Colonel Trevor... everything changed. She is the watershed moment that changed us forever. But anyhow, besides all this, these people are the problem." Sage explained, switching back to the strange views of Atlantis.

"What is that around the city? A force field or something?" Batman asked.

"That's our best guess. We can't get any closer to investigate. We sent down a search team and they found this. Something that scares us."

Craven eyed the screen while holding a mostly quiet conversation on his phone. He shook his head and turned around from the projection.

The screen flashed white for a moment before a video appeared on the screen. Bubbles fluttered by and through the heavy breathing of the cameraman through a snorkeling device, a gigantic ship appeared on screen and Batman tensed up. It was like an underground battleship twice the size of the Titanic. It was lit up by the aquamarine energy surging through it and past the force field guarding it, for a brief moment, it roared like two giant pieces of metal scraping together and the camera shook, the cameraman and two of the other operatives swimming away quickly as water literally pushed itself away from the battleship. The cameraman screamed through his snorkel and suddenly, the water was gone and the men fell to the ground from twenty feet. They wore giant mechanized suits with motors on their backs to help with propeling them across the ocean. They crashed into the sea floor, seaweed flopped around them and fish fell from above by the hundreds. They looked around at each other and watched as the giant ship roared again, mud flying away from their engines from two hundred feet back, the force of the turbines blowing them across the sea floor, further away from the city. Superman and Batman guessed they wore the suits to protect themselves against the elements and the intense pressure. The camera was attached to the man's head and he looked around, seeing the force field vibrating in place and making a humming noise. He turned to his left and picked up the other agents, seeing the wave of a thousand-foot wall of water rushing away from them.

"What the hell just happened?" one of the men asked.

"They know we're out here. We need to leave, now." the cameraman said, breaking into a run as the water from the other side started the recede back toward them. Waves crashed into the huge battleship and the men screamed in fear. The sounds of waves crashing back into the ocean floor were deafening and the cameraman motioned away from the ship, running with his men.

"Run! Activate your boosters when I say!" the cameraman yelled as they ran across the mushy floor.

Batman and Superman watched in hesitation, seeing a threat not unlike the world engine used by the Kryptonian general, Zod. They continued to watch the haunting footage as the waves crashed near the soldiers. They were breathing hard and another blast shot through the speakers of the camera, killing the audio and blasting the men forward once again. The man with the camera tried to stand up but was overtaken by a giant wall of water that swept him and his men up violently. The water cracked the camera lens and before it died completely, one last shot of the Atlantean battleship broke through the view, giving a scary reminder. Sage cut the footage and took a deep breath.

"Diana says it is called the Orca. A weapon based on sound technology. The blasts that it fires are amplified because sound travels faster in water. If this thing was brought up to the surface, say... near the East Coast... it could cause multiple tsunamis that we wouldn't be able to stop or have time to evacuate. We believe... that Atlanteans have been using this weapon for years. There have been several reports over the last ten years of tsunamis striking Central America and Florida that flood areas and kill people. The strange thing is," Sage said, switching to a slide showing an overall map of global tectonic plates.

"None of these 12 tsunamis were caused by plates shifting. The only other explanation is excessive glacier damage and I think it is pretty obvious that there are zero glaciers in the Gulf of Mexico or the surrounding ocean."

"So, Atlantis is attacking us? Why?" Batman asked.

"We have no idea." Sage said.

"What about Diana? Has she been in contact with Atlantis to try and sort things out. If she knows the name of their ship, than she must know a little about them." Superman asked.

"She has become an ambassador for the United States and Themyscira. We are trying to stop a war but we're worried now."

"About what?" Superman asked.

"Cook knew about the Atlantis discovery. If he stages an attack... it could spell the end for a civilized U.S." Sage replied.

"Then let's stop it." Batman said, leaving the room without making a sound.


	13. Getting Some Attention

"Alright, princess, if we're getting out of here, we're going to need some help." Arthur said as him and Diana sprinted through the halls.

As they turned a corner, Arthur heard footsteps and stopped the princess before she could move any further. She looked at him as his arm was across her chest and slowly, he turned his head, seeing a lone guard patrolling the halls, yelling insults at the prisoners and pressing the button on his shock stick. Arthur made her listen to him and she nodded slowly, understanding the situation. He flipped out of the corner and silently walked through the hallway, making the other prisoners be quiet inside their water cells. To Atlanteans, water was a life source but also a hindrance if used in a different form. The water inside these cells was made more dense, which weakened the prisoners inside them, making them unable to revolt or escape without assistance from the outside. Arthur approached the guard slowly and when he was a few feet away, he whistled obnoxiously and made the guard turn around.

The guard received a sharp punch to the jaw and he hit the ground hard. Arthur dragged him so he sat up against the wall and he could see the other prisoners giving him a smile or a thumb's up as he saluted them with a smirk on his face. He ran back through the hallway and grabbed Diana, taking her hand as they ran to the next hallway. She was impressed by his work and she waved at the prisoners who gave her underwater whistles and claps of attraction.

"Anyways, what were you saying?" the princess asked in a cute voice.

"We need help to break out of here. Someone who's extremely smart in stuff like this."

Even in her dark orange prison outfit, she was still a beautiful figure who's royal lineage showed through clearly. As they ran Arthur kept staring at and hoped she didn't notice.

"Who?"

"My brother."

"Who is your brother?"

"His name is Orm. He was framed for a murder a while back and he's been here, plotting for an escape. When he first got here, he told me that he was planning something to expose Serin for all the secrets she's kept over the years. We need to leave, right now." Arthur replied.

"Why's that?" Diana asked in her innocent voice.

"Because, I think Serin's trying to start a war." Arthur said, pointing down another hallway as they journeyed to Orm's cell.

* * *

><p>"Did your war buddy say anything?" Flash asked as he walked through the corridors of the S.T.A.R. Labs building in Central. It was deserted; obviously to the huge amount of destruction being caused by Key.<p>

"John? Yeah. He was being shipped over to D.C. for a protection order for the president." Hal replied through the Lantern construct headset across Flash's helmet.

"The president. Like POTUS?" Flash asked.

"Yep. It's getting serious."

"Jesus. Then they've known about this attack for a while now. There's no way something this massive could've been kept secret." Flash said as he found Frank Lane's office and opened the door.

He zoomed over to the back section and looked at the bookcase, pressing the spine of a volume on Molecular Structures and watching a keypad flip out from underneath the bookshelf. He pressed the long, eighteen-digit password in less than a second and waited as it retreated back into its place and the bookcase shifted to the right. Flash ran inside, seeing the prototype suit he and his friend had been working on. The suit was a bit brighter than his current outfit and this one had armor plating sealed into the polymer that made it up. The gauntlets across the forearms were sharper and looked heavier. The more weight added, the better. Momentum was key when you could run past the speed of sound. He looked at the damage across his current suit and rose an eyebrow, taking it off in a literal flash and putting on the new suit, holding the transmitter from his other cowl. He placed it on his head and cleared his throat.

"I'm not trying to brag," he began, looking at himself in the mirror beside the suit chamber.

"But I look _damn _sexy in red."

* * *

><p>"Hm. Hello, half-brother." Orm Marius said with a sly smile to Arthur as he and Diana approached his water cell. He was floating around in the paralyzing liquid in a meditative state and his eyes were closed. He flicked them open and was surprised to see the Amazonian princess in front of him.<p>

"Hello, Orm. How are you doing?" Arthur replied.

"For being convicted of murder... fairly well."

Although he had only known his Atlantean brother for three years, they were as close as if they had spent a lifetime together. They were close to their blood mother and had became best friends before he was convicted of killing two High Council members. Serin punished him without any mercy and sentenced him to life in prison with no possibility of parole or early release.

"Serin's trying to execute something. A plan. And Princess Diana here is a major part of it. America knows about us and now, she's been convicted of trying to bomb Atlantis. She was framed. A war is going to start if we don't warn the U.S." Arthur said.

"And how do you plan on doing that? Escaping and going to your Senate? Dressed like that?" Orm laughed as he looked at the prison uniform.

"I don't know, Orm. But I need your help to get out of here. We need manpower."

Diana shuffled her movements and tensed up at the masculine sense of the word.

"Magic boundaries mean that my magic cannot penetrate the magical boundaries, Arthur. Do you realize that?"

"Yes, I do." Arthur replied with a aggravated tone.

Orm swam close to the glass and pressed against the transparent wall that stretched with his force before bouncing back to its original shape. He sighed and crossed his arms. Arthur eyed the problem and looked around, seeing the empty hallway and no sign of guards anywhere. He looked behind him and saw a large pipe that crisscrossed onto the ceiling and contained steam. He moved past Diana and grasped the pipe hard, wedging his fingers behind the part of the pipe that was stuck to the wall and pulled back hard, the metal ripping from the concrete wall violently and steam blowing everywhere. Diana backed up as Arthur carried the pipe with ease, swinging it over the Amazonian's head and preparing to slam it into the magical wall.

"What _are _you doing?" Orm asked.

"Breaking you out." Arthur said, moving into a running stance.

"A metal pipe isn't going to break this barrier, half-breather." his brother muttered, pedaling his back feet in the water and backing up.

"Sure it will." Arthur said with a smirk.

He ran at the wall with a great amount of force, hitting the wall with a sharp end of the pipe. The pipe hit the wall and it stretched a foot back inside the prison cell, Arthur straining to keep it stretching as the magic began to push it back. Arthur kept walking with the pipe in his hands, the sharp piece staying stationary while Arthur screamed in frustration. Diana ran to his aid and helped him push the pipe farther back into the cell.

"What are we doing?" Diana asked through gritted teeth.

"Getting...some...attention!" Arthur replied as the magic force was too much and the pipe shattered, making the two of them fly back into the wall behind them.

They slid down the wall and groaned as they leaped back up and Arthur made sure she wasn't hurt. As she gave him a smile and a nod of relief, they heard a loud boom and saw three prison guards wielding shock sticks running near them. Arthur cracked his knuckles and pushed his dirty blonde hair back as he looked at Diana and clicked his tongue.

"How did they know about us?" she asked.

"If the magic levels aren't right or changed in an extreme way, they send down a few guys to find out what's wrong." Arthur said as the men ran at them.

"Can you fight, Princess?" he asked.

"Well..." she began as the guards came closer.

"I know a few things."

Arthur nodded and ran at the guards at full speed, immediately hunkering down and letting one of them crash into his back, completely flipping him over as he focused his attention on the man at the back. He punched him in the gut, ignoring the pain in his fist as he knocked against the guard's armor and dodged a sting from his shock stick, sparks flying in his face as he grabbed his arm and tossed him into the wall. The guard turned around and growled at Arthur, leaping at him while trying to strike again with the shock stick. Arthur strafed his body to the right and caught him by his throat, making him fall to the ground in pain.

He grabbed the shock stick and flipped it into his hand properly before setting an auto charge and striking the other man in the back, getting his attention. He looked down the hallway and watched as Diana kicked her guard in the chest, watching him fly twenty feet down the hallway and slam into the chamber door. He raised an eyebrow and was distracted as the guard he was facing headbutted him with his helmet on and gave a small smile. Arthur shook away the pain and grabbed the man's head, ripping the helmet off and punching him in the face once.

"I can do that too!" he smarted, whacking him across the jaw with the helmet and knocking the guard out before dropping the helmet and cracking his neck.

"Now, what?" Diana asked, her fists out and ready.

"You wait for the next wave. They'll bring in a section leader next with at least ten men. He'll be the man with two green stripes on his right arm and a purple trident on his left. He has the key, Princess." Orm said suddenly as Arthur and her regrouped.

Diana looked at him, impressed before turning to Arthur.

"Now do you see why we need him?" he said.


	14. Ruse

"Here they come!" Diana yelled as fifteen men ran from the left door at full speed, armed with rifles and shock sticks.

Her and Arthur readied their weapons and ran at them with full force, Arthur knocking two on their backs and twisting around to smack a guard in the face with the shock stick. It electrocuted his face and he screamed with a distorted yelp as Arthur slammed his head into the wall. Diana fought off three guards and with her incredible strength that burst from nowhere, Arthur ducked as she tossed a guard above his head. He ripped off the armor of another guard and smacked him in the face, knocking him out and into a guard.

The guard prepared the shock stick and slammed it into her neck, making her grit her teeth and grab him by his throat. As Arthur watched in amazement, he was hit by three more guards and was knocked to the ground as another two jumped on top of him and began to beat him with their shock sticks. Diana looked at him and was knocked to the ground by a guard herself. She kicked his foot with all her might, his ankle breaking with a loud crack and sending him to the ground. Diana saw Arthur getting beat to the death and when the three remaining guards grabbed her from all angles, she sighed deeply and looked at Arthur as he raised his head, one eye open and bleeding.

"Damn. I was hoping the charade would last longer." she said, her voice changing tone and becoming more sincere.

"What?" Arthur yelled, confused as Diana screamed loudly and knocked the men off of her without any effort.

The men flew in all directions, denting the walls behind them as they weren't even aware of the impact. Diana flew around gracefully, taking flight and soaring through the hallway, grabbing two of the guards by their arms and tossing them into a cell wall, bouncing off of it and hitting her strong arms. Arthur lifted himself up and looked in amazement as she dodged a shock stick attack and broke the man's arm, twisting it behind him and pushing him to the ground hard. She grabbed the shock stick and ran across the wall before striking a guard in his nose, his body convulsing from the charge as she executed a front-flip off of the wall and hit another guard in the throat, making him surrender. The princess dodged a kick from a guard and grabbed his foot, twisting it around and throwing him into the ceiling, hitting another guard in the back and letting him slide across the floor before the injured guard fell back to the ground.

Within a few swift seconds, she knocked down the other guards; flipping and kicking her way past them before helping Arthur up and shoving him out of the way. She faced the last guard and he was armed with two shock sticks. His posture was shaky and he was breathing hard while Diana gave him a smile and crossed her arms.

"How do you think this is going to end?" she laughed.

"Wanna find out pr-?" the guard began before Diana flew in a straight line at him, striking him in his chest and letting him fly well over thirty feet horizontally across the hallway before hitting the door and joining one of his unconscious friends.

Diana relaxed herself and turned back around to Arthur who wiped blood from a small cut above his eye. He scoffed and held his hand out, confused based on her previous attitude and voice.

"What the hell was that?" he asked.

"I am a warrior, Arthur. Not a dumb girl who inherited the royalty of my family." Diana replied.

"What about you telling the United States about Atlantis and all the-." he began before she raised her hands and shushed him.

She gave him a solemn look and she stood tall, not resembling the ditzy princess from moments before.

"America has known for a long time now. I didn't ruin anything. I met a Colonel after he was stranded on our island and your government appointed me an ambassador. I went along with the ruse of a clueless girl because I thought it would be more attractive to you… making you work harder to free us from this prison."

Arthur was about to speak but suddenly stopped. He looked at her with slight suspicion and backed up, feeling stupid.

"So… you tricked me. Nice." he said, giving her a sarcastic thumbs-up.

"I thought I had to. We're all at risk here. Serin is going to start a war, Arthur. We need to get out of here, now." Diana said.

"Fine. Just one thing, princess," Arthur said, grabbing the key from the bloodied body of the section leader slumped against the dented wall and swinging it around his finger.

"It would've been nice to tell me you could fly."


End file.
